Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
Between:
Beverley Sheremetta Applicant
-and-
The Corporation of the City of Hamilton Respondent
Decision
Adjudicator: Brian Eyolfson Date: May 20, 2014 Citation: 2014 HRTO 711 Indexed as: Sheremetta v. Hamilton (City)
1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended, on April 11, 2013.
2The parties attended a mediation in this matter on October 28, 2013, but the Application was not resolved.
3On November 19, 2013, the applicant’s counsel wrote to the Tribunal and the respondent, indicating that he was no longer representing the applicant. He also asked that the Tribunal not set the matter down for a hearing “in the standard hearing track” at the time, but wait to hear from the applicant in terms of the length of time she would need to find another lawyer. He also asked that the Tribunal and the respondent communicate with the applicant by mail only.
4On January 27, 2014, the Tribunal wrote to the applicant by mail, indicating that her previous representative asked that a hearing in this matter not be scheduled until she had retained new counsel. The Tribunal indicated that it had not heard from the applicant in this regard. The Tribunal asked that, if new counsel had been retained, the applicant have her counsel write to the Tribunal. The Tribunal also asked that, if new counsel had not been retained, the applicant write to the Tribunal and the respondent, by February 18, 2014, to provide an update on the status of her search for counsel, and indicate how much more time she would need to retain a new representative.
5On February 24, 2014, the Tribunal again wrote to the applicant by mail, indicating that it had not received any correspondence from the applicant. The Tribunal asked the applicant, if she had retained new counsel, to write to the Tribunal and the respondent to confirm, or to indicate how much more time she needed to obtain a representative. The Tribunal’s February 24, 2014 correspondence to the applicant warned the applicant that if the Tribunal did not receive any correspondence from her by March 10, 2014, her file may be closed as abandoned.
6To date, the applicant has not responded to the Tribunal’s correspondence, nor has she otherwise contacted the Tribunal, and the Tribunal’s correspondence to the applicant has not been returned as undeliverable.
7In the circumstances, the applicant is deemed to have abandoned the Application.
8The Application is dismissed.
Dated at Toronto, this 20^th^ day of May, 2014.
“Signed by”
__________________________________
Brian Eyolfson Vice-chair