M.W. v. C.C.S.S., 2015 HRTO 43

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

M.W. by his litigation guardian C.W.

Applicant

-and-

C.C.S.S.

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Naomi Overend Date: January 13, 2015 Citation: 2015 HRTO 43 Indexed as: M.W. v. C.C.S.S.

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

M.W., Applicant

C.W., Litigation Guardian, and Maija Laitinen, Counsel

A.C., H.V.D., D.S., J.D.V., S.B., S.Be., K.B., F.H., A.Ch., C.D., S.G., D.H., J.M., P.P. and A.R., Respondents

Sean Jackson, Counsel

1On December 19, 2014, C.W. filed a Form 4B asking to be named as the applicant’s litigation guardian. Rule A10.5 of the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario Common Rules states:

Upon the filing of a complete declaration as required by this Rule and unless refused or removed by the Tribunal, the person may act as litigation guardian for the party.

A declaration, as required, was filed in the proper form. Unless there is reason to question the appointment in the future, C.W. may act as M.W.’s litigation guardian.

2On the same day as she filed the Form 4B, C.W. also brought a Request for an Order During Proceedings (Form 10) asking to remove 15 individually named respondents and adding the organizational respondent, C.C.S.S., in their place. The individual respondents consent to their removal and take no position on the addition of the proposed organizational respondent. It would appear that counsel for the individual respondents also represents the proposed organizational respondent. He has asked that the Tribunal address this matter expeditiously as a mediation is scheduled in this matter shortly and counsel requires clarification of the identity of his client(s).

3In light of the consent of the individual respondents, the absence of any opposition by the proposed organizational respondent and the allegations in the Application, the Tribunal orders the removal of all 15 of the individual named respondents, as follows: A.C., H.V.D., D.S., J.D.V., S.B., S.Be., K.B., F.H., A.Ch., C.D., S.G., D.H., J.M., P.P. and A.R. It also orders the addition of the following organizational respondent: C.C.S.S. The style of cause has been amended to reflect these orders.

4Counsel for the respondents has asked for an order anonymizing the names of the parties in light of the sensitivity of the issues, or, in the alternative, an order delaying the publication of this decision. Counsel for the applicant, who has recently been retained for the purpose of the mediation, consents to that request. In light of the complexity of this issue, and the urgency of addressing the amendments, the Tribunal will not rule on this issue at this time. In order to preserve the anonymity until such time as the issue can be properly addressed, the Tribunal will use initials in this Interim Decision.