John Hrisofos v. Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc., 2016 HRTO 694

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

John Hrisofos

Applicant

-and-

Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jo-Anne Pickel

Date: May 20, 2016

Citation: 2016 HRTO 694

Indexed as: Hrisofos v. Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.

APPEARANCES

John Hrisofos, Applicant

Clara Matheson, Counsel

Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc., Respondent

Bryan Rubin, Counsel

1A hearing in respect of this Application was scheduled for May 20, 2016.

2At the start of the hearing the respondent requested an adjournment because the respondent’s counsel is allegedly having heart issues and allegedly will require open heart surgery. Another lawyer from his firm appeared at the hearing to make submissions in support of the adjournment request. He produced a medical note dated May 19, 2016 from a doctor stating that the respondent’s counsel “has a heart condition” and is “having a problem at present”.

3The Tribunal only grants adjournments in extraordinary circumstances. The Tribunal has accepted that the illness of a party, witness or representative may amount to exceptional circumstances that justify granting an adjournment.

4I find the note produced by the respondent vague. It only refers to a heart condition and counsel having “a problem at present”. Also it does not refer to any alleged open heart surgery. Notwithstanding my serious concerns about the note and the reasons put forward by the respondent for the adjournment, I granted the respondent’s adjournment request. I was extremely reluctant to do so, especially because the applicant had made arrangements for his doctor to testify and this involved his doctor cancelling his afternoon appointments to do so.

ORDER

5This Interim Decision confirms the oral ruling I made at the hearing granting the respondent’s request for an adjournment. However, in order to ensure the expeditious rescheduling of this hearing, I direct counsel for both parties to make themselves available for a case management call next week to canvas their availability for rescheduling the hearing as soon as possible. If the respondent’s counsel is unable to take part in a hearing in the near future, he must make arrangements to reassign the file to another lawyer from his firm. I will not accept any ongoing heart issues as a valid reason to delay the rescheduling of the hearing.

6Finally, in order to minimize the prejudice to the applicant, I will accommodate his doctor’s schedule in order to ensure that he testifies at a time that is convenient to him at the rescheduled hearing, even if this means interrupting other testimony or hearing witnesses out of order.

7The Tribunal’s Registrar shall contact the parties to determine their availability for a half hour case management call next week. If David Rubin is unavailable, the Tribunal’s Registrar will be contacting Bryan Rubin, the lawyer who appeared to request the adjournment.