HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Sachchu Khan
Applicant
-and-
1742248 Ontario Inc. O/A The Harbord Room, Cory Vittelo, Curt Martin and Phil Walters
Respondents
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Douglas Sanderson
Indexed as: Khan v. 1742248 Ontario Inc. O/A The Harbord Room
APPEARANCES
Sachchu Khan, Applicant
Self-represented
1742248 Ontario Inc. O/A The Harbord Room, Cory Vittelo, Curt Martin and Phil Walters, Respondents
Sunira Chaudhri, Counsel
1This is an Application filed under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the "Code"), alleging discrimination with respect to employment because of place of origin, sex and sexual solicitation or advances. The Tribunal scheduled a hearing in respect of this Application on February 9 and 10, 2015 in Toronto of which the Tribunal notified the parties in a Notice of Hearing dated September 16, 2014.
2By letter dated January 27, 2015, counsel for the respondent requested adjournment of these hearing dates because she is scheduled to appear, along with her colleague Howard Levitt, at a hearing of another matter before the Tribunal on February 10 and 11, 2015. Counsel identified the other application as Tribunal File Number 2013-16029-I. The Tribunal's records indicate that the parties to that application were notified of their hearing dates in a Notice of Hearing dated August 21, 2015. The Tribunal directed the applicant to file any submissions regarding the respondent's request by January 29, 2015, but the Tribunal has received no submissions from him.
Analysis and Decision
3I begin by noting that this is the second time respondents' counsel has made a late adjournment request because she is double booked. See Khan v. 1742248 Ontario Inc., 2014 HRTO 86. In this case, the Tribunal scheduled two matters in which she is involved on overlapping dates. The hearing dates for these matters have, however, been known since mid-September, 2014. As noted in 2014 HRTO 86, The Tribunal's Practice Direction on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests and Requests for Adjournments provides that requests to reschedule must be made within 14 days of receiving the Confirmation of Hearing and that outside that time adjournments will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. Accordingly, the Tribunal grants adjournments sparingly. This is reiterated in the Notice of Hearing.
4As the Tribunal also noted in 2014 HRTO 86, the fact that a party or representative has become double booked does not amount an extraordinary circumstance that warrants adjournment of a hearing. Respondents' counsel could have easily avoided this situation had she acted with reasonable alacrity after learning that this Application and application 2013-16029-I were scheduled for hearing on overlapping dates, i.e. over four months ago. No reason has been provided to indicate why this request for an adjournment has been made at such a late date. Neither has respondents' counsel indicated why it is necessary for her to attend the hearing of Application 2013-16029-I, rather than this Application, when her client in that matter is also represented by a senior member of the bar.
Order
5The respondents' request for an adjournment is denied.
Dated at Toronto, this 2nd day of February, 2015.
"signed by"
Douglas Sanderson
Vice-chair