Leslie Austin v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Minister of Government Services, 2012 HRTO 287

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Leslie Austin

Applicant

-and-

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by

the Minister of Government Services

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Naomi Overend

Date: February 9, 2012

Citation: 2012 HRTO 287

Indexed as: Austin v. Ontario (Government Services)

1The respondent requests that this Application be dismissed against it on the basis that it is not the proper respondent. It submits in its Response that the applicant has not named the proper respondent, which would be London ServiceOntario Office (“ServiceOntario”), an independent contractor with whom it has entered into an “Issuing Service Agreement” to run its ServiceOntario office in London, Ontario.

2At this point it is premature to decide whether the respondent is properly named. It is not clear, at this juncture, whether the respondent could be determined to be liable. The question of the respondent’s liability should be determined following evidence and argument at the hearing.

3The respondent had the opportunity to name ServiceOntario as an additional respondent under part 4 of the Response, but chose instead to name ServiceOntario as an “affected person” under part 5. ServiceOntario was notified of this by the Tribunal but has chosen not to intervene.

4Likewise, the applicant did not name ServiceOntario as a respondent in her Application nor has she, to date, requested an amendment to her Application to add this respondent.

5The Tribunal only has authority under s. 45.2(1) of the Code to make a remedial order if it determines that a party to the Application has infringed the applicant’s rights. The parties may wish to review the Tribunal’s Rules and Guide to its processes, available on the Tribunal’s website at www.hrto.ca.