Pratt v. TAG Management, 2015 HRTO 1110

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Elizabeth Pratt

Applicant

-and-

TAG Management

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Brian Cook

Date: August 20, 2015

Citation: 2015 HRTO 1110

Indexed as: Pratt v. TAG Management

1This Interim Decision addresses the respondent’s submission that the Application should be dismissed because a decision of an Employment Standards Officer has appropriately dealt with the substance of the Application.

2The history of this Application has been set out in a series of earlier decisions of the Tribunal.

3Section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), provides as follows:

45.1 The Tribunal may dismiss an application, in whole or in part, in accordance with its rules if the Tribunal is of the opinion that another proceeding has appropriately dealt with the substance of the application.

4The Application that the applicant filed with this Tribunal alleged discrimination in employment because of disability, sex, age. It also alleged reprisal.

5Following the termination of the applicant's employment by the respondent, the applicant filed a complaint under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). That complaint related to a dispute between the parties about the applicant's hours of work, including whether she had been late for work on various occasions, and whether her pay had been reduced because of lateness. The complaint under the ESA alleged that the termination of employment was related to the fact that the applicant had raised concerns about her hours of work with her employer and that she had therefore been reprised against for having raised an employment standards issue.

6The complaint under the ESA made no mention of the allegations in the Application to this Tribunal.

7The ESA complaint was investigated by an Employment Standards Officer who concluded that the termination of the applicant’s employment was not related to the fact that the applicant had raised issues about her hours of work and pay.

8In respect of the respondent’s submission that the Application should be dismissed under section 45.1 of the Code, I conclude that the decision of the Employment Standards Officer did not deal with the substance of the Application and that there is therefore no basis to dismiss the Application under section 45.1.

9The parties have both agreed to try mediation at the Tribunal. The Registrar will schedule a date for mediation.