Nuria Abdosh v. North York General Hospital, 2016 HRTO 224

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Nuria Abdosh Applicant

-and-

North York General Hospital Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jennifer Scott Date: February 19, 2016 Citation: 2016 HRTO 224 Indexed as: Abdosh v. North York General Hospital

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Nuria Abdosh, Applicant Self-represented

1This Interim Decision addresses the applicant’s request to re-activate her deferred Application.

2The applicant filed her Application on December 23, 2013. She alleges that the respondent failed to accommodate her request for the last lunch/supper break so that she could pray.

3The applicant also filed three grievances, one of which involved the applicant’s request for accommodation of her religious needs. The Application was deferred pending the conclusion of the grievances by Registrar’s letter dated April 29, 2014. The deferral was confirmed by Interim Decision dated August 7, 2014 (2014 HRTO 1180).

4On January 11, 2016, the arbitrator released her decision dismissing all three grievances.

5By Request for Order During Proceedings (“Request”) dated January 21, 2016, the applicant requested that the Tribunal re-activate her Application as the arbitrator has issued a decision. The respondent did not respond to the Request.

6Since the arbitrator has now issued her decision, I grant the applicant’s request to re-activate her Application.

7There is an issue in this case as to whether the Application should be dismissed in whole or in part pursuant to s. 45.1 of the Code, which reads as follows: “The Tribunal may dismiss an application, in whole or in part, in accordance with its rules if the Tribunal is of the opinion that another proceeding has appropriately dealt with the substance of the application”. As such, I direct that a preliminary hearing be scheduled to determine this issue.

ORDER

8For the reasons set out above, the Tribunal orders as follows:

a. The applicant’s request to reactivate the Application is granted; and,

b. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled to determine whether the Application should be dismissed under section 45.1 of the Code.

NEXT STEPS AND DIRECTIONS

9The Registrar will schedule a half day hearing by conference call. The parties will receive a notice of hearing, setting out the time, date and telephone numbers for the preliminary hearing. Although scheduled for a half day, not all preliminary hearings require a half day to complete. It will be up to the Vice-chair to determine the length of the hearing and how the hearing is conducted.

10The parties shall deliver to each other and file with the Tribunal copies of any further documents, witness lists or cases they intend to rely upon two weeks prior to the date of the preliminary hearing. If any party intends to call witnesses, a summary of the witness’ intended evidence must also be filed and delivered.

11In preparing their submissions, the parties may wish to consider the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Figliola, 2011 SCC 52 and Penner v. Niagara (Regional Police Services Board), 2013 SCC 19, as well as previous cases in which the Tribunal has considered the application of s. 45.1, including Claybourn v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 1298 and the cases cited in that decision. All decisions of the Tribunal can be accessed free of charge on the website of the Canadian Legal Information Institute at: www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/index.html.