Sullivan v. Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, 2015 HRTO 1348

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Denise Sullivan Applicant

-and-

Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, Jean-Paul Desilets, Allison Wallace and Derek Beland Respondents

DECISION

Adjudicator: Jennifer Scott Date: October 8, 2015 Citation: 2015 HRTO 1348 Indexed as: Sullivan v. Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation

1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), on May 22, 2015.

2By Case Assessment Direction dated June 15, 2015, the Tribunal directed that a summary hearing be held to determine whether the Application should be dismissed, in whole or in part, on the basis that there is no reasonable prospect that it will succeed because it appeared the applicant may be unable to prove a connection between her complaint and a Code ground. The parties were advised that the focus of the inquiry at the summary hearing would be on the evidence that the applicant has or may be able to obtain to prove the connection between the respondents’ actions and the applicant’s sex or disability, the grounds of discrimination relied upon in the Application. The Case Assessment Direction advised the parties that they could file materials on the summary hearing within 35 days of the date of the Case Assessment Direction.

3On July 24, 2015, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Summary Hearing to the parties confirming that the summary hearing would take place by teleconference on October 7, 2015, commencing at 1:30 p.m. The Notice of Summary Hearing provided the number to call to connect to the teleconference, together with the conference ID number. The Notice of Summary Hearing was delivered to the applicant at the last address provided by the applicant to the Tribunal and was not returned as undeliverable.

4I am satisfied that the applicant had notice of the summary hearing as the applicant attached the first page of the Notice of Summary Hearing in her summary hearing materials filed on August 10, 2015.

5The applicant was not in attendance at the commencement of the scheduled summary hearing. In accordance with its usual practice, the Tribunal waited until 2:00 p.m. before proceeding.

6At 2:00 p.m. the applicant was not in attendance nor had the applicant communicated with the Tribunal to explain the failure to attend.

7In the circumstances, the Application was dismissed on the basis that the applicant was deemed to have abandoned the Application.