Dinorah Martinez-Cedeno v. Elizabeth Ann Martens, 2012 HRTO 929

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Dinorah Martinez-Cedeno

Applicant

-and-

Elizabeth Ann Martens

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Mark Hart

Date: May 8, 2012

Citation: 2012 HRTO 929

Indexed as: Martinez-Cedeno v. Martens

1A summary hearing in this matter is scheduled to proceed tomorrow morning (May 9, 2012) commencing at 9:30 a.m.

2On May 4, 2012, the applicant wrote to request an adjournment of the summary hearing due to the health status of one of her dependents. The applicant indicated that she could submit a medical note to the Tribunal verifying this information, if required.

3The Tribunal requested submissions from the respondent, who indicated on May 7, 2012, that she was not prepared at that time to accept an adjournment without documented medical evidence. However, the respondent stated that if medical documentation supported the adjournment, she was willing to accommodate. The applicant accordingly was requested to provide medical documentation to support her request.

4The respondent thereafter wrote again later on May 7, 2012, to state that she had been giving this matter some further consideration and had re-thought her earlier position. She stated that she was not prepared to agree to an adjournment of the summary hearing, as this matter had been hanging over her head for far too long and she would like it resolved. She stated that if the Tribunal decided that this is an "exceptional circumstance" and made a decision to re-schedule the hearing based on that, then so be it.

5The applicant responded on May 7, 2012, to state that the circumstances that had arisen to require an adjournment of the summary hearing were beyond her control. She states that her son, who has special needs, is a student at a place where fire broke out several days ago. Given the nature of his medical needs, the applicant states that this has created a crisis situation for him that was totally unexpected. She states that her son’s health deteriorated during the last five days, and his lack of sleep and other health issues has made it incredibly difficult for him to adjust. She states that her son is under medical care and she will provide the appropriate documentation to the Tribunal. She states that she can appreciate the respondent needing to have this resolved and she feels the same way. However, she states that her son's needs at this time have created an unstable situation for him and exhaustion on her part. She does not feel that proceeding with the summary hearing tomorrow morning would lead to an appropriate resolution under these severe and unexpected circumstances.

6On May 8, 2012, the applicant provided a medical note to the Tribunal, but has asked that this note not be shared with the respondent or Centennial College as an affected party. While I can respect that request, I do need to set out some of the basic information from this note in this Interim Decision, as it supports the applicant’s request for adjournment. The medical note confirms that the applicant’s son has a serious disability which has been adversely impacted by a fire at his school, and has affected his health, sleep patterns and daily functioning and requires close parental supervision. The doctor supports the applicant’s request to have the summary hearing adjourned to a later date when the effects of the crisis have worn off.

7The Tribunal’s Practice Direction on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests, and Requests for Adjournments states:

The HRTO discourages requests for adjournments outside the ten-day period to request rescheduling of a hearing…. Requests for adjournments, particularly at the last minute, are a significant impediment to fair and timely access to justice. Therefore, the HRTO will only grant adjournments in extraordinary circumstances such as illness of a party, witness or representative. Absent exceptional circumstances, the HRTO will not grant adjournments, even when all parties consent.

Where a party seeks to adjourn a previously scheduled mediation or hearing, they must contact the Registrar as soon as the need arises. They must contact the other parties to seek their consent, and to discuss alternative dates for the rescheduling of the mediation or hearing.

The party making the request should contact the Registrar and provide the exceptional circumstances supporting the request and any alternative agreed upon dates. Where the request is on short notice, the party must contact the Registrar by email or fax, copied to the other parties.

8In my view, these are very unfortunate and unexpected circumstances, which understandably would have an impact on the applicant’s ability to properly prepare for and participate in the summary hearing. The potential consequences of the summary hearing for the applicant are serious, as if she is not able to satisfy the Tribunal that her Application has a reasonable prospect of success, then her Application may be dismissed.

9As a result, I find that these are the kind of exceptional circumstances that justify an adjournment of the summary hearing. Accordingly, the summary hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning is adjourned. The Tribunal will be in contact with the parties to schedule another date for the summary hearing.

10I am not seized.