Lazore v. Regis Holdings (Canada) Ltd., 2015 HRTO 544

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Tanya Lazore Applicant

-and-

Regis Holdings (Canada) Ltd. Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Dawn J. Kershaw
Date: April 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 HRTO 544
Indexed as: Lazore v. Regis Holdings (Canada) Ltd.

APPEARANCES

Tanya Lazore, Applicant Bernadette Clement, Counsel

Regis Holdings (Canada) Ltd., Respondent Frances Gallop, Counsel

Introduction

1This Application alleges discrimination with respect to employment because of race, ancestry, colour and place of origin contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”).

2On December 1, 2014, the Tribunal issued a Case Assessment Direction advising the parties and their counsel that a summary hearing would be held by teleconference to determine whether this Application should be dismissed, in whole or in part, on the basis that there was no reasonable prospect that the Application or part of the Application would succeed.

SUMMARY HEARING

3The test the Tribunal applies at this stage in the process is whether an application has “no reasonable prospect of success”. It is the role of the Tribunal to examine the allegations and determine whether or not an application should move to the next stage in the hearing process. If the Tribunal determines that an application has no reasonable prospect of success it will be dismissed. If the Tribunal is unable to determine that the application has no reasonable prospect of success, it will move to the next stage in the hearing process. In some cases, the Tribunal finds that only part of the application will move ahead, while part is dismissed.

4The applicant’s role in the summary hearing is to describe to the Tribunal the evidence they propose to call to support her belief that she experienced discrimination. It is not up to the applicant to demonstrate that an application HAS a reasonable prospect of success, nor is it sufficient that the application is considered unlikely to succeed.

5The Tribunal is not empowered to remedy general allegations of unfairness in areas such as employment, services or accommodation. Discrimination in the legal sense requires proof that unfair treatment is based, at least in part, on a person’s race, gender, disability or other prohibited ground under the Code. In other words, the ground must somehow be a factor in the adverse treatment.

6The applicant is a hairstylist who alleges she had a solid work history with the respondent until she was moved to the last store at which she was given assistant manager duties. Up until then, the respondent had moved her to a new store whenever a store at which she had been working closed. She felt she was well-liked and was a good employee.

7At the last store at which she worked for the respondent, the applicant alleges she was made to feel uncomfortable from the outset. She alleges she was singled out for her style of dress or having to re-do colours, and alleges this was related to her aboriginal status. She felt something was “off”.

8After she went off work on stress leave, she got no meaningful response or any investigation from the respondent to her allegation of racial discrimination.

9The respondent counters that the applicant has provided no specifics to her allegations, and reiterates that the Tribunal cannot deal with general allegations of unfairness. The respondent further submits that the applicant must provide some objective facts and circumstances to link her allegations to the Code grounds she alleges.

10After reviewing and considering all of the submissions and case law of the parties (with the exception of the doctor’s opinion), and accepting the applicant’s allegations as true, I cannot find that there is no reasonable prospect that the applicant can succeed under the Code.

11The Application will continue to the next stage in the hearing process. Pursuant to Rule 19A.6, I do not consider it necessary or useful to provide further reasons. The presiding adjudicator will be in the best position to determine the scope of the evidence and issues at the hearing.