HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Charlotte Maheux
Applicant
-and-
Alliance Bridal, Ginette Lemieux and Valérie Lemieux
Respondents
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Paul Aterman
Indexed as: Maheux v. Alliance Bridal
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS
Charlotte Maheux, Applicant
Self-represented
Alliance Bridal, Respondent
Valérie Lemieux, Representative
1This Interim Decision deals with a request by the respondent Alliance Bridal to amend its Response and requests by the applicant to amend her Application and to add Valérie Lemieux and Ginette Lemieux as respondents.
2The Application alleges discrimination with respect to employment because of disability contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”). It involves how the applicant was allegedly treated at work and then why her employment was terminated.
3The Application was initially brought naming Alliance Bridal as the respondent. A Response was filed on June 19, 2014. Some days later the respondent requested to amend its Response by adding further information to explain its view of what happened while the applicant worked for it.
4The applicant has not opposed this request. The respondent’s request to amend is granted as the proposed amendments simply expand upon the facts that the respondent Alliance Bridal initially mentioned in its Response.
5The applicant has brought a request to amend her Application by expanding upon the facts that she alleges constitute discrimination. The proposed amendments also include specific monetary amounts the applicant is seeking as compensation. In addition to this request the applicant also seeks to add Valérie Lemieux and Ginette Lemieux as personal respondents. She maintains that Alliance Bridal is not registered as a corporation and that the proposed personal respondents were her employers and were directly responsible for the alleged acts of discrimination.
6The parties were advised that the applicant’s requests would not be processed until she complied with earlier directions of the Tribunal that required her to show she had the consent of her trustee in bankruptcy to proceed with this Application. She has since complied with that direction.
7Neither the respondent nor the proposed personal respondents have opposed these requests, and the time for doing so has now passed. In the absence of any argument to the contrary I consider it appropriate to grant the requests. It appears that, if the applicant were to succeed at a hearing, she would have difficulty recovering any remedy the Tribunal might order if the only respondent is not in fact a legal person. This is sufficient justification to add Valérie Lemieux and Ginette Lemieux as personal respondents. This request is granted and the personal respondents are to file their Responses within 35 days of the date of this Interim Decision.
8The amendments to the Application do not prejudice the respondents in that the personal respondents can address the amended Application in the Responses they file, and Alliance Bridal – if it is in fact a legal entity – can amend its Response if it wishes to respond to the amended Application. The request to amend the Application is also granted.
order
9The request of Alliance Bridal to amend its Response is granted.
10The request of the applicant to amend her Application is granted.
11The request of the applicant to add Valérie Lemieux and Ginette Lemieux as personal respondents is granted. The personal respondents are to file their Responses within 35 days of the date of this Interim Decision and the applicant is then to file her Reply in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure.
12Once pleadings have been filed, the Registrar is requested to schedule this Application for hearing.
Dated at Toronto, this 14th day of January, 2015.
“Signed by”
Paul Aterman
Vice-chair