HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Flora Terah
Applicant
-and-
St. Clare Inn and Tom Purcell
Respondents
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Jo-Anne Pickel
Indexed as: Terah v. St. Clare Inn
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS
Flora Terah, Applicant
Self-represented
St. Clare Inn and Tom Purcell, Respondents
Sabatina Vassalli, Counsel
1This Interim Decision addresses the applicant’s request to amend her Application and the respondents’ request for a summary hearing.
request to amend application
2By Application filed on May 11, 2016, the applicant alleged that she was discriminated and reprised against contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”). On May 13, 2016, the applicant filed a Request for Order During Proceedings (“RFOP”) seeking to amend her Application to add allegations leading up to her departure from the St. Clare Inn.
3The respondents did not respond to the applicant’s RFOP and the time for doing so has passed. However, the respondents appear to have addressed the applicant’s allegations up to the date of her departure from St. Clare Inn in their Response.
4In the above circumstances, the applicant’s request to amend her Application to add the allegations contained in her RFOP is granted.
request for summary hearing
5The respondents requested a summary hearing in this case, claiming that the applicant’s allegations have no reasonable prospect of success under the Code. Their request is denied. Under Rule 19A.5 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure, the Tribunal need not give reasons for a decision to hold or not to hold a summary hearing. In the circumstances of this case, I will simply note that the issues raised by the applicant and respondent may only be resolved after hearing some evidence in a hearing on the merits. While it does appear that some of the applicant’s allegations may have no reasonable prospect of success under the Code, the tribunal will have to hear some evidence before determining some of the other allegations in the Application. Therefore, the respondents’ Request for Summary Hearing is denied.
Order
6For the reasons set out above, the Tribunal orders as follows:
a. The applicant’s request to amend her Application is granted. The Application is amended to include the allegations contained in the RFOP she filed on May 13, 2016.
b. The respondents’ request for a summary hearing is denied.
c. Since both parties have agreed to mediation, the Registrar will schedule a mediation in this case.
7I am not seized.
Dated at Toronto, this 30th day of December, 2016.
“Signed by”
Jo-Anne Pickel
Vice-chair