Anas Alahdab v. ATD Contracting Services Inc., 2016 HRTO 797

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Anas Alahdab

Applicant

-and-

ATD Contracting Services Inc.

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Mark Hart

Date: June 13, 2016

Citation: 2016 HRTO 797

Indexed as: Alahdab v. ATD Contracting Services Inc.

1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), on August 17, 2015.

2On February 18, 2016, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Hearing to the parties confirming that hearing of the Application would take place on June 13, 2016 commencing at 9:30 a.m. at the Tribunal’s hearing centre at 655 Bay St, 14th Floor, Toronto, Ontario. The Notice was delivered to the applicant at the last address provided by the applicant to the Tribunal and was not returned as undeliverable.

3In addition, I issued a Case Assessment Direction (“CAD”) dated May 13, 2016 reminding the parties of the hearing scheduled for June 13, 2016 and providing direction to the parties regarding the service and filing of hearing materials. This CAD was delivered to the applicant by e-mail and regular mail, and the applicant responded to the CAD by filing his hearing materials as directed.

4Accordingly, I am satisfied that the applicant had notice of the hearing.

5The applicant was not in attendance at the commencement of the scheduled hearing. In accordance with its usual practice, I waited until 10:00 a.m. before proceeding.

6At 10:00 a.m. the applicant was not in attendance nor, despite my efforts to determine whether the applicant had communicated with the Tribunal to explain the failure to attend, was I advised that the Tribunal had received no communication from the applicant to provide such explanation.

7The filing of an Application with this Tribunal is a serious matter and serves as the commencement of a legal proceeding. This imposes obligations and responsibilities on an applicant, including the obligation and responsibility to attend the scheduled hearing date. In the absence of the applicant’s attendance at the hearing, it is not this Tribunal’s role to independently inquire into the circumstances raised in the Application and make a determination as to whether the applicant’s rights had been violated. Rather, it is the applicant’s responsibility to attend the hearing and provide evidence to support the alleged violation.

8In the circumstances, the Application is dismissed on the basis that the applicant is deemed to have abandoned the Application.