Cathy Moncur v. Beach Grove Golf and Country Club, 2012 HRTO 2335

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Cathy Moncur Applicant

-and-

Beach Grove Golf and Country Club Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Ken Bhattacharjee

Date: December 13, 2012

Citation: 2012 HRTO 2335

Indexed as: Moncur v. Beach Grove Golf and Country Club

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Cathy Moncur, Applicant ) Mary Jane Campigotto, Counsel

Beach Grove Golf and ) Nancy Jammu-Taylor, Counsel

Country Club, Respondent )

1The purpose of this Interim Decision is to deal with the applicant counsel’s request to adjourn and reschedule the last day of the hearing.

2On September 19, 2012, following consultation with the parties, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Confirmation of Hearing which informed them that the last day of the hearing was scheduled for December 18, 2012. The Notice also informed them that adjournment requests would only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

3The applicant’s counsel recently filed a Request for an Order During Proceedings, which requested that the Tribunal adjourn and reschedule the hearing because a specialist scheduled an important medical appointment for her on December 18, 2012. The respondent filed a Response which opposed the adjournment request on the basis that the scheduling of the last day of the hearing was already significantly delayed because of the applicant’s counsel’s refusal to provide her availability.

4I appreciate that adjourning and rescheduling the hearing will be frustrating for the respondent, particularly given the delay caused by the applicant’s counsel in scheduling the last day of the hearing. That said, in my view, the applicant’s counsel’s current circumstances are exceptional and justify adjourning and rescheduling the hearing. For privacy reasons, I will not describe in detail the nature of the applicant’s counsel’s medical appointment, but it is plain and obvious that the appointment will be dealing with a serious and pressing health issue.

5Accordingly, the applicant’s counsel’s request to adjourn and reschedule the hearing is granted. The Tribunal directs the parties to communicate with each other, and advise the Registrar by no later than January 4, 2013 as to their availability for a rescheduled hearing date. If no communication is received from the parties, the Tribunal may set the hearing date without further consultation with the parties.