Alistair Courtney v. Candyland, 2017 HRTO 1577

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Alistair Courtney Applicant

-and-

Candyland Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Mary Truemner Date: November 29, 2017 Citation: 2017 HRTO 1577 Indexed as: Courtney v. Candyland

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 January 4, 2017.

2In an Interim Decision dated August 14, 2017, 2017 HRTO 1049, the Tribunal found that the respondent was refusing or had chosen not to participate in these proceedings. The Tribunal deemed the respondent to have accepted the allegations and to have waived all rights to notice or participation in these proceedings. The Tribunal ordered that the respondent is not entitled to further notice with respect to the Application.

3On August 25, 2017, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Case Management Conference Call to the applicant confirming that the conference call would take place on November 20, 2017, at 9:30 a.m., and providing the contact information to join the conference call. The Notice was not delivered to the respondent, given the Tribunal’s Interim Decision referenced above.

4The Notice was emailed to the applicant. It was also mailed to the applicant at the last address provided by the applicant to the Tribunal. It was not returned as undeliverable. The Notice warned the applicant that failure to attend the Case Management Conference Call could result in the Tribunal dismissing the Application as abandoned.

5I am satisfied that the applicant had notice of the Case Management Conference Call.

6Predictably, the respondent, who received no notice of the conference call, was not in attendance at the commencement of the scheduled conference call. The applicant, however, was also not in attendance at the commencement of the scheduled conference call. In accordance with its usual practice, the Tribunal waited until 10:00 a.m. before proceeding, but the applicant had still not joined the conference call by that time, nor had he communicated with the Tribunal to explain the failure to attend.

7In the circumstances, the Application was dismissed on the basis that the applicant was deemed to have abandoned the Application.