Hassell v. Ontario (Children and Youth Services), 2011 HRTO 1872

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Keith Hassell

Applicant

-and-

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Kevin O’Brien, Ed Mcandrew, Santo Lisi, Robert McGucken, Chris Clysdale, Bart Furmanek, Mary Pacheco and Gail MacDougall

Respondents

INTERIM decision

Adjudicator: Brian Eyolfson

Date: October 17, 2011

Citation: 2011 HRTO 1872

Indexed as: Hassell v. Ontario (Children and Youth Services)

1The applicant filed an Application under section 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), on April 7, 2011.

2On June 8, 2011, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Application to the respondents. The respondents were advised that they must file a Response to the Application with the Tribunal by no later than July 13, 2011.

3As of the date of this Interim Decision, all the respondents except the individual respondent, Bart Furmanek, have filed a Response to the Application. The Tribunal’s correspondence to Mr. Furmanek has not been returned as undeliverable.

4An application to the Tribunal starts a legal proceeding. A finding that a violation of the Code has occurred may lead to various orders, including monetary compensation, other forms of restitution to the applicant, and orders to take action to promote compliance with the Code. Failure to file a response or participate in a Tribunal proceeding may lead to orders against respondents without their participation. Mr. Furmanek’s attention is drawn to Rule 5.5 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure which reads as follows:

5.5 Where an Application is delivered to a Respondent who does not respond to the Application, the Tribunal may:

a) deem the Respondent to have accepted all of the allegations in the Application;

b) proceed to deal with the Application without further notice to the Respondent;

c) deem the Respondent to have waived all rights with respect to further notice or participation in the proceeding;

d) decide the matter based only on the material before the Tribunal.

5The applicant has provided a mailing address for the individual respondent Mr. Furmanek. The Tribunal shall send a copy of this Interim Decision to Mr. Furmanek at that address by regular mail and courier.

6If Mr. Furmanek wishes to participate in this proceeding, a Response must be filed with the Tribunal no later than ten days from the date of this Interim Decision together with an explanation of why the Response was not filed in accordance with the Notice of Application. If a Response is not received, the Tribunal may proceed without further notice to Mr. Furmanek and may take any or all of the steps set out in Rule 5.5.

7The responding parties have indicated their consent to engage in mediation and the Registrar will schedule a mediation in the normal course. In the Response Mr. Furmanek is asked to indicate whether he also wishes to participate in the mediation session.

8I am not seized of this matter.