Meghan Sheehan (Laffan) v. Toronto Catholic District School Board, 2016 HRTO 1573

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Meghan Sheehan (Laffan) Applicant

-and-

Toronto Catholic District School Board Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jennifer Khurana Date: December 7, 2016 Citation: 2016 HRTO 1573 Indexed as: Sheehan v. Toronto Catholic District School Board

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Meghan Sheehan (Laffan), Applicant Self-represented

Toronto Catholic District School Board, Respondent Melissa Arruda, Counsel

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 328, Affected Party Anne Gregory, Counsel

Introduction

1This is an Application filed under section 34 of Part IV of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), alleging discrimination with respect to employment on the basis of disability. This Interim Decision deals with the issue of whether the Application should be deferred pending the conclusion of grievance proceedings.

2In the Application the applicant indicates that the facts are part of three grievances. The respondent filed a Request for an Order During Proceedings (“Request”) seeking deferral of the Application pending the arbitration to be scheduled pursuant to the applicable collective agreement. The respondent appended a copy of letters from the Union, dated October 17, 2016, advising that the three grievances referenced in the Application have been referred to arbitration.

3The applicant consents to the deferral.

DECISION

4The Tribunal may defer consideration of an application, on such terms as it may determine, and on its own initiative. The Tribunal has stated that deferral is not automatically invoked simply because the parties are involved in other legal proceedings. It is a discretionary measure that the Tribunal exercises on the basis of the circumstances in each case. Absent good reason, applicants and respondents before the Tribunal are entitled to expect the Tribunal to take timely action to resolve complaints of discrimination brought before it.

5I find deferral to the grievance process appropriate. The Tribunal has generally deferred applications where there is an ongoing grievance under a collective agreement based on the same facts and issues. In explaining this approach, the Tribunal has referred to the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that grievance arbitrators have not only the power but also the responsibility to implement and enforce the substantive rights and obligations of human rights and other employment-related statutes as if they were part of the collective agreement. See Parry Sound (District) Social Services Administration Board v. O.P.S.E.U., Local 324, 2003 SCC 42).

6In any case where the parties are already engaged in a concurrent legal proceeding in which they are raising the same issues before a decision-making body with the authority to make determinations about those issues, the orderly administration of justice favours deferral to the other proceeding. In such a scenario, the Tribunal’s normal approach is to defer to the other proceeding.

7The applicant has filed three grievances and has indicated that some or all of the facts and issues are the same as the allegations in the Application. It would not be constructive to have two proceedings consider concurrently the same facts as this may lead to contrary findings and decisions. It is appropriate to defer this Application pending the conclusion of the grievance process. If the applicant believes, on conclusion of the process, that her human rights issues have not been adequately addressed, she may ask to have her Application brought back on before the Tribunal.

8The Tribunal directs the parties’ attention to Rules 14.3 and 14.4 which outline the procedure by which the Application may be brought back on after the conclusion of the other process. Where a party wishes to proceed with an Application which has been deferred, the party must file a Request for an Order During Proceedings (Form 10) within 60 days after the conclusion of the other proceeding. The Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Forms can be found on its website at www.sjto.gov.on.ca/hrto/.

ORDER

9The respondent’s Request is granted. The Tribunal will defer consideration of the Application pending the conclusion of the grievance process.

10I am not seized.