Mak v. Manulife Financial, 2016 HRTO 1479

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Lena Mak

Applicant

-and-

Manulife Financial

Respondents

RECONSIDERATION DECISION

Adjudicator: Jo-Anne Pickel

Date: November 18, 2016

Citation: 2016 HRTO 1479

Indexed as: Mak v. Manulife Financial

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Lena Mak, Applicant

Chung Shing Lee, Representative

Manulife Financial, Respondent

Sophia Zaidi, Representative

1The applicant filed an Application alleging discrimination contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 (the “Code”). By Decision 2016 HRTO 1326, I dismissed the Application as abandoned.

2The circumstances surrounding the Application are set out in my previous Decision. In short, the applicant has passed away and neither the applicant’s husband nor anyone else representing the applicant’s estate has provided the information sought by the Tribunal by the deadline set by the Tribunal. For this reason, I dismissed the Application as abandoned.

3The applicant’s husband filed a Request for Reconsideration in which he claimed that he mistakenly filed information with the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance instead of the Tribunal. The respondent opposed the Request on the basis that the applicant’s husband gave no good faith reason for not having filed the required material by the deadline set by the Tribunal.

finding

4The circumstances in which a Request for Reconsideration may be granted are set out in Rule 26.5 of the Tribunal’s Rules:

26.5. A Request for Reconsideration will not be granted unless the Tribunal is satisfied that

(a) there are new facts or evidence that could potentially be determinative of the case and that could not reasonably have been obtained earlier; or

(b) the party seeking reconsideration was entitled to but, through no fault of its own, did not receive notice of the proceeding or a hearing; or

(c) the decision or order which is the subject of the reconsideration request is in conflict with established jurisprudence or Tribunal procedure and the proposed reconsideration involves a matter of general or public importance; or

(d) other factors exist that, in the opinion of the Tribunal, outweigh the public interest in the finality of Tribunal decisions.

5In my view, factors exist in this case that outweigh the public interest in the finality of my previous Decision. Based on the information contained in the Request for Reconsideration, it is evident that the applicant’s husband did not intend to abandon the Application. Therefore, it is appropriate to grant reconsideration of my finding that the Application should be dismissed as abandoned.

order

6In the above circumstances, the Request for Reconsideration is granted. The applicant must advise the Tribunal within 7 days of this Reconsideration Decision whether he has a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee with a Will issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.