HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Jason Federow
Applicant
-and-
The Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls and the Canadian Union of Public Employees and its Local 133
Respondents
DECISION
Adjudicator: Ken Bhattacharjee
Date: March 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 HRTO 377
Indexed as: Federow v. Niagara Falls (City)
APPEARANCES
Jason Federow, Applicant
Civita Gauley, Counsel
The Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls, Respondent
Mark Mason, Counsel
Canadian Union of Public Employees and its Local 133, Respondent
Mona Staples, Counsel
Introduction
1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), which alleged that the respondents discriminated against him with respect to employment because of his disability.
2The purpose of this Decision is to decide whether the Application should be dismissed on the basis that a proceeding before a labour arbitrator appropriately dealt with its substance or it has no reasonable prospect of success. The parties attended a preliminary hearing where they had the opportunity to make oral submissions and present documents and cases, which addressed these issues. I have decided to dismiss the Application. The following are my reasons for the dismissal.
BACKGROUND
3The applicant began working for the Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls (the “corporate respondent”) in 2005. He was a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and its Local 133 (the “union respondent”).
4The applicant has an addiction to drugs, and in 2009 and 2010, he was terminated from employment, and, with the assistance of the union respondent, reinstated twice. The second reinstatement occurred after it was established that the applicant had relapsed, and was subject to the terms and conditions of a Last Chance Agreement (“LCA”), which was entered into by him, the corporate respondent, and the union respondent.
5On January 9, 2013, the applicant used one