Laghrissi v. L’Occitane Canada Corp., 2015 HRTO 406

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Selma Laghrissi

Applicant

-and-

L’Occitane Canada Corp.

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Laurie Letheren

Date: March 27, 2015

Citation: 2015 HRTO 406

Indexed as: Laghrissi v. L’Occitane Canada Corp.

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Selma Laghrissi, Applicant

Self-represented

L’Occitane Canada Corp., Respondent

Kimberly D. Pepper, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

1This Application is scheduled to be heard in Toronto on April 15 and 16, 2015.

2A Notice of Hearing was sent to the parties on November 14, 2014. The Notice set dates for disclosure and production of documents pursuant to the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure. The Notice confirmed that requests to reschedule the hearing dates were to be made within 14 days of the Notice of Hearing. Parties were advised that the hearing would only be adjourned in exceptional circumstances.

3On December 16, 2014, the respondent filed a Request for a Summary Hearing.

4The applicant did not respond to the request for the Summary Hearing within the required 14 days.

5On January 21, 2015, the respondent asked that the decision on the request for a Summary Hearing be made before the hearing on the merits and that the April 15 and 16, 2015 hearing dates be adjourned until the Summary Hearing decision had been made.

6The Tribunal issued a Case Assessment Direction (“CAD”) dated January 28, 2015 directing the applicant to file a Response to the Summary Hearing request within 7 days of the date of the CAD. The applicant filed a response on February 22, 2015.

7The Registrar wrote to the parties on March 6, 2015 to advise that the request for Summary Hearing was denied.

8On March 13, 2015, the respondent made a further request to adjourn the April hearing dates. The respondent notes that neither party has complied with their obligations pursuant to Rule 17 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure to exchange and file the documents that they intend to rely on at the hearing and their witness statements. The respondent notes that it did not comply with the Rule 17 obligations on the belief that the Summary Hearing was going to dispose of all or most of the Application.

9The applicant has not taken any position on the respondent’s request for adjournment.

DECISION

10The Practice Direction on requests to adjourn or reschedule reads as follows:

The HRTO discourages requests for adjournments outside the 14-day period to request rescheduling of a hearing, described above. Requests for adjournments, particularly at the last minute, are a significant impediment to fair and timely access to justice. Therefore, the HRTO will only grant adjournments in extraordinary circumstances such as illness of a party, witness or representative. Absent exceptional circumstances, the HRTO will not grant adjournments, even when all parties consent.

Where a party seeks to adjourn a previously scheduled mediation or hearing, they must contact the Registrar as soon as the need arises. They must contact the other parties to seek their consent, and to discuss alternative dates for the rescheduling of the mediation or hearing.

The party making the request should contact the Registrar and provide the exceptional circumstances supporting the request and any alternative agreed upon dates. Where the request is on short notice, the party must contact the Registrar by email or fax.

11In Vallentyne v. Royal Canadian Legion, 2009 HRTO 660 at para. 4, the Tribunal explained why, even when there is consent, an adjournment of a scheduled hearing will not be granted absent exceptional circumstances:

The Tribunal is committed to the fair, just and expeditious resolution of proceedings before it. It expects to receive thousands of applications each year. The Tribunal has a responsibility to ensure that public resources are used effectively to meet the demands of all parties before the Tribunal. Therefore, when an adjournment request is made, it is not only the interests of the parties to the particular proceeding must consider, but the fact that Tribunal time reserved for the resolution of those parties’ dispute will no longer be used. For that reason, among others, the Tribunal’s Information Bulletin on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests and Requests for Adjournments indicates that even adjournment requests made on consent of the parties more than five days after the hearing is scheduled may be denied. The Tribunal has balanced the interests of parties in having hearings scheduled according to their and counsel’s availability with these broader interests by requiring that a party advise within five days that they are unavailable, and providing that requests for adjournment will not otherwise be granted, absent exceptional circumstances.

12The respondent has not disclosed any exceptional circumstances to support the request for an adjournment. The respondent’s belief that the Application would be disposed of at the Summary Hearing is not an exceptional circumstance that warrants adjournment of this hearing, and the request to adjourn the scheduled hearing days is denied. The hearing will proceed on April 15 and 16, 2015.

DIRECTIONS TO APPLICANT AND RESPONDENT

12By no later than April 7, 2015, the applicant and the respondent must prepare:

1. a list of the documents they intend to rely on at the hearing. These are the documents that they have chosen to put before the Tribunal that are relevant to the issues raised in this Application.

2. copies of each of these documents.

3. a witness statement setting out the intended evidence of each witness.

13The witness statements should be detailed and set out the particular testimony each witness will give. The applicant is reminded that she must also submit a witness statement for herself, assuming she intends to testify at the hearing. However, if the applicant only intends to testify about the facts already contained in her Application, it is sufficient for her to confirm this in writing by April 7, 2015.

14By April 7, 2015, the applicant and the respondent must deliver the witness statements, the list of the documents they intend to rely on and a copy of those documents to the other party and then file copies of the documents they will rely on, the witness statements and a completed Statement of Delivery (Form 23) with the HRTO.

15If the applicant does not comply with the obligations set out above by April 7, 2015, the Application may be dismissed as abandoned.

16If the respondent does not comply with its obligations by April 7, 2015 it may not be permitted to produce evidence or witnesses at the hearing.

16The HRTO’s Rules of Procedure are available at www.hrto.ca under “Law, Rules and Policies”. The parties may also benefit from reviewing the Tribunal’s “Guide to Preparing for a Hearing before the HRTO”, available at www.hrto.ca under “Guides and Forms”.