Browne v. Wentworth Condominium Corporation No. 96, 2016 HRTO 909

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Lorna Browne

Applicant

-and-

Wentworth Condominium Corporation No. 96, Precision Management Services Inc., and Key Property Management and Consultants

Respondents

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: David Muir Date: July 11, 2016 Citation: 2016 HRTO 909 Indexed as: Browne v. Wentworth Condominium Corporation No. 96

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Lorna Browne, Applicant

Grace Vacarelli, Counsel

1This Application alleges discrimination with respect to the accommodation because of disability contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”).

2The applicant has filed a Request to Expedite this proceeding (Form 14) to which the respondents have not responded and the time for doing so has passed. In her Request, the applicant seeks an abridgment of the time period for the respondents to file a Response from 35 to 7 days and that the Tribunal schedule a mediation on an “urgent basis.”

3The Request is allowed in part.

4Rule 21.2 provides as follows:

21.2 A Request to Expedite an Application made under Rule 21.1 must include:

a) a detailed description of the requested changes to the Tribunal’s normal process, including timelines;

b) one or more declarations signed by persons with direct first-hand knowledge detailing all the facts upon which the Applicant relies in support of the request to expedite; and

c) submissions that explain:

i. why there are urgent circumstances that may affect the fair and just resolution of the merits of the Application if the Application proceeds in accordance with the Tribunal’s regular process;

ii. the harm that would result if the Request is denied; and,

iii. why the Application should be given priority for Tribunal resources over other matters.

5The applicant filed a brief Declaration as required under 21.2(b). The applicant’s declarant advises that the applicant is in hospice care and is considered terminal. It would have been helpful to have medical information, but in the absence of a response to the request there is no reason to question the gravity of the situation.

6Based on the limited information provided by the applicant, I am satisfied that it is necessary to the fair, just, and expeditious resolution of this case that the pleadings stage of the Tribunal process be expedited.

7The application is not obviously without merit. More significantly, I accept the declaration that the applicant is terminal. I also accept the applicant’s submission that if the request is not granted, she may be deprived of any possibility of a remedy. In the circumstances, I am satisfied that it would be fair, just, and expeditious to expedite the pleadings stage of the Tribunal process.

8However, in the absence of Responses to the Application at this stage, the Tribunal can do no more than abridge the time frame for the filing of the Responses. The Application and the Request to expedite were delivered to the respondents on June 30, 2016. In the normal course their Responses to the application would have been due on August 4, 2016. The respondents are directed to deliver and file their Responses within 7 days of the date of this Interim Decision. If any of the respondents are agreeable to mediation, the Tribunal will endeavour to schedule an early mediation.

9I am not seized of this case.