Anne Speelman v. Windsor Regional Hospital, 2014 HRTO 796

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Anne Speelman

Applicant

-and-

Windsor Regional Hospital

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Brian Cook

Date: June 4, 2014

Citation: 2014 HRTO 796

Indexed as: Speelman v. Windsor Regional Hospital

1This Application was filed on June 13, 2013. The Application arose out of medical treatment the applicant received at the Windsor Regional Hospital on June 30, 2012 and July 1, 2012. The Application alleged discrimination on the ground of disability. The allegations included referral for an unnecessary consultation, improper and negligent medical care, accusations of hypochondria, and refusal to provide needed medical treatment.

2The Application was reviewed by the Registrar and it was determined that the Application was not complete because the applicant had not completed the section of the Application that asks about remedy. The Registrar sent a Notice of Incomplete Application and asked the applicant to complete the remedy section of the Application.

3The applicant responded to the Notice and delivered a large package of documents that relate to various difficulties she has experienced arising from unrelated legal problems.

4On February 18, 2014, another Notice of Incomplete Application was sent to the applicant because she had not completed the remedy section of the Application.

5On March 12, 2014, the applicant filed a Request for Order During Proceedings, asking to amend the Application to include over twenty personal and institutional respondents, to add additional allegations of discrimination involving the applicant and various family members, going back several years, and to consolidate this Application with two other Applications. One of the other Applications has been dismissed in Decision 2014 HRTO 204. According to the applicant’s Request for Order During Proceedings, the other Application has not yet been accepted by the Tribunal. The applicant has now completed the remedy section of the original Application.

The applicant’s request to amend the Application

6In determining requests to amend Applications, the Tribunal generally considers the nature of the proposed amendments, the reasons for the amendments, the timing of the request to amend and the prejudice to the respondent.

7In considering these factors, it is not appropriate to allow the applicant to amend the Application by adding more allegations and adding respondents associated with those allegations.

8The original Application dealt with the applicant’s allegations and complaints about her interaction with the hospital over the course of two days. The proposed amendments involve allegations about a large number of alleged events that are not directly related to the allegations in the original Application.

9The present Application cannot be consolidated with an earlier Application that has been dismissed. It is not possible to make a determination about the applicant’s proposal that this Application be consolidated with another Application as it seems that it has not been filed or has not been accepted by the Tribunal.

Summary hearing

10The Tribunal does not have the general power to deal with allegations of unfairness. It can only deal with alleged discrimination or harassment on the grounds set out in the Human Rights Code. To succeed in an Application, an applicant must be able to prove discrimination on the basis of a Code ground on a balance of probabilities. To show discrimination, an applicant must prove a link between a respondent’s alleged actions and a Code ground. Having reviewed the Application, it appears that the applicant may be unable to prove a link to the ground or grounds alleged.

11Rule 19A.1 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure reads as follows:

19A.1 The Tribunal may hold a summary hearing, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, on the question of whether an Application should be dismissed in whole or in part on the basis that there is no reasonable prospect that the Application or part of the Application will succeed.

12The Tribunal directs, on its own initiative, that a summary hearing be held to determine whether this Application should be dismissed, in whole or in part, on the basis that there is no reasonable prospect that it will succeed.

13The Registrar will schedule a half-day summary hearing by telephone conference call. The applicant will proceed first during this summary hearing. The applicant shall make argument about why the Application should not be dismissed as having no reasonable prospect of success, and point to the evidence on which the applicant will prove a link between the respondent’s actions and the grounds cited. No witnesses will give evidence during the summary hearing.

14If the Tribunal determines that the Application has no reasonable prospect of success, it will be dismissed. If the Tribunal does not find that the Application should be dismissed under Rule 19A, it will continue in the Tribunal process. The Application may be dismissed in whole or in part.

15A copy of the Application is delivered to the respondent with this Case Assessment Direction. The respondent need not file any materials or a Response to the Application unless directed to do so by the Tribunal. The respondent must write to the Tribunal, with a copy to the applicant, within 14 days of the date of this Case Assessment Direction, providing contact information for the person to whom documents should be delivered.

16A Notice of Summary Hearing will follow from the Registrar’s Office. The parties shall deliver to each other and file with the Tribunal copies of any further documents or cases they intend to rely upon no later than 14 days prior to the teleconference.

17The parties may wish to consult the Tribunal’s Practice Direction on Summary Hearing Requests, available on the Tribunal’s website at www.hrto.ca.