Mary Caldwell v. Windigo Catering Limited Partnership, 2016 HRTO 1217

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Mary Caldwell Applicant

-and-

Windigo Catering Limited Partnership (by its general partner, Windigo Ventures General Partner Ltd.) Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jo-Anne Pickel Date: September 15, 2016 Citation: 2016 HRTO 1217 Indexed as: Caldwell v. Windigo Catering Limited Partnership

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Mary Caldwell, Applicant Jordan Lester, Counsel

1This Interim Decision addresses the applicant’s request to have her doctor testify by teleconference.

2The applicant requested that the Tribunal permit her doctor to testify by teleconference because her doctor now lives in Whitehorse. The respondent did not respond to the applicant’s request and the time for doing so has passed.

3The applicant’s request is granted. The Tribunal has frequently granted such requests in the past when credibility is unlikely to be an issue. See for example Dickson v. General Motors of Canada Limited, 2015 HRTO 596, and Cann v. AS 4Finance Ltd., 2014 HRTO 1260.

MEDIATION-ADJUDICATION

4The parties should note that Rule 15A of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure authorizes the use of mediation-adjudication in which the adjudicator assigned to the case assists the parties, with their consent, to resolve the dispute at the hearing. This would be done on the understanding that if a settlement is not reached the adjudicator would go on to hear and determine the case. The process is a voluntary process. If the parties are agreeable to engage this process they should advise the Tribunal, preferably prior to the first day of the hearing.

Order

5For these reasons, the applicant’s request to have her doctor testify by teleconference is granted. The applicant’s doctor should be available to testify either on the afternoon of the first hearing day or the morning of the second hearing day.