Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
B E T W E E N:
K.L. by her Litigation Guardian T.R.
Applicant
-and-
Thames Valley District School Board and Mary Wright Public School
Respondents
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Ken Bhattacharjee
Indexed as: K.L. v. Thames Valley District School Board
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS
Thames Valley District School Board and Mary Wright Public School, Respondents
Lorraine J. Por, Counsel
1On June 6, 2016, the applicant filed an Application with this Tribunal under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended, which alleged that the respondents discriminated against her with respect to services because of her disability.
2On August 17, 2016, the respondents filed a Request for an Order During Proceedings (“RFOP”), which requested that the Tribunal grant them an extension of time to file their Response to the Application because classroom teachers would not be available to be consulted about the allegations in the Application until the school year commenced. The RFOP also requested that the Tribunal order the applicant to provide particulars about certain allegations in the Application in order to allow them to file a proper Response to the Application. The applicant did not file a Response to the RFOP, and the time for doing so has now passed.
3The respondents’ request for an extension of time to file their Response to the Application is now moot. The respondents’ request for particulars is denied. As a matter of course, parties are expected to complete the exchange of pleadings, i.e., Application, Response and Reply, prior to raising preliminary matters. See Kovacs v. DBG Canada Limited, 2013 HRTO 1536 at para. 7. I do not agree with the respondents that certain allegations in the Application are so lacking in particulars that the Tribunal should order the applicant to provide them at this stage in the proceeding.
4Within seven days of the date of this Interim Decision, the respondents shall file their Response to the Application.
Dated at Toronto, this 31st day of October, 2016.
“Signed By”
Ken Bhattacharjee
Vice-chair