Faulkner v. Lakeridge Health, 2016 HRTO 1465

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Sandra Faulkner

Applicant

-and-

Lakeridge Health

Respondent

-and-

Ontario Public Service Employees Union

Intervenor

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jo-Anne Pickel

Date: November 15, 2016

Citation: 2016 HRTO 1465

Indexed As: Faulkner v. Lakeridge Health

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Sandra Faulkner, Applicant

Carol Burbank, Counsel

1Continuation dates are scheduled for the hearing of this case on December 12-13, 2016. This Interim Decision addresses the applicant’s request to amend the remedy sought in her Application.

2By Request for Order During Proceedings (“RFOP”) filed on October 28, 2016, the applicant requested that the remedy sought in her Application be amended to include $40,000 in general damages.

3The respondent did not respond to the applicant’s RFOP and the time for doing so has now passed.

4In determining requests to amend applications, the Tribunal generally considers the nature of the proposed amendments, the reasons for the amendments, the timing of the request to amend, and the prejudice to the respondent. See, for example, Odell v. TTC, [2001] OHRBID No. 2, Dube v. Canadian Career College, 2008 HRTO 336, and Wozenilek v. 7-Eleven Canada Inc., 2009 HRTO 926.

5Having considered the factors set out above, I grant the applicant’s request to amend the remedy sought in his Application. The Tribunal has regularly granted requests to amend remedies up to the date of the hearing. See, for example, Marino v. Compuware Corporation of Canada, 2011 HRTO 1390, and Loney v. Combusco Enterprises, 2011 HRTO 1050. This remedial amendment is made without any determination by the Tribunal as to the appropriateness of the remedies sought, and without prejudice to any position the respondent may wish to take regarding this issue.

mediation-adjudication

6In my view, a further attempt at mediation-adjudication may be beneficial in this case. If the parties are interested in pursuing this option at the outset of the first hearing day, they must advise the Tribunal in advance of the first hearing day or at the outset of the hearing.