Eldon DiFederico v. Peel District School Board, 2016 HRTO 594

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Eldon DiFederico Applicant

-and-

Peel District School Board Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Bruce Best Date: May 4, 2016 Citation: 2016 HRTO 594 Indexed as: DiFederico v. Peel District School Board

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Eldon DiFederico, Applicant Self-represented

Peel District School Board, Respondent Roy Filion, Counsel

Introduction

1This Interim Decision deals with the issue of whether the Application should be deferred. The applicant indicated that the facts of the Application were also part of an ongoing grievance. He indicated that the Application was in part intended to act as a “stimulus” to his grievance. The grievance appears to have been commenced in January 2016, shortly before this Application was filed, and from the materials filed by the applicant it appears it was being actively pursued by the union.

2The Tribunal issued a Notice of Intent to Defer the Application pending the outcome of the grievance. The applicant objected to deferral on the basis that grievance and arbitration may take years, and that given the nature of grievance proceedings may result in an agreement that satisfies the union and the respondent but does not protect him from future discrimination.

3The respondent supports deferral on the basis that the grievance overlaps entirely with the Application. It also notes that the grievance is, as of April 2016, progressing to Step 3.

4The Tribunal has generally deferred applications where there is an ongoing grievance under a collective agreement based on the same facts and human rights issues. In this case, the facts and human rights issues raised in the Application are essentially the same as those raised in the grievance. From the materials filed by the parties, the grievance appears to be actively proceeding through its processes. If the applicant believes, on conclusion of the grievance process, that his human rights issues have not been adequately addressed, he may ask to have her Application brought back on before the Tribunal.

5The Application will therefore be deferred pending the completion of the grievance process.

6The 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 grievance process.