Jim Brigis v. Niagara Regional Police, 2017 HRTO 1649

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Jim Brigis

Applicant

-and-

Niagara Regional Police

Respondent

RECONSIDERATION DECISION

Adjudicator: Naomi Overend

Date: December 12, 2017

Citation: 2017 HRTO 1649

Indexed as: Brigis v. Niagara Regional Police

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Jim Brigis, Applicant

Jennifer Zdriluk, Counsel

Niagara Police Services Board, Respondent

Woodward B. McKaig, Counsel

1A hearing in respect of this Application was scheduled for October 23 and 24, 2017, in St. Catharines. A Case Assessment Direction (“CAD”), dated September 26, 2017, alerted the parties to the fact that they had failed to comply with Rules 16 and 17 of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s (“the Tribunal”) Rules of Procedure regarding pre-hearing disclosure of documents and witnesses. The applicant did not comply with the directions in that CAD and a Decision, dated October 6, 2017, dismissed the Application as abandoned. The applicant has filed a Request for Reconsideration of the Tribunal’s Decision.

2At the time I wrote the CAD and Decision, I was not aware that the parties had previously requested, and were granted, an extension to October 3, 2017 to comply with their disclosure requirements. Coincidentally, that was also the date for compliance set out in the CAD. The email exchange in which the request was made and granted was not placed with the physical file or uploaded to the Tribunal’s electronic file. Had I been aware of this information, I would not have authored the CAD, from which flowed the Decision to dismiss.

3In a second CAD, issued after the Request for Reconsideration, I asked the respondent for its submissions in light of this new information. Counsel for the respondent advised in a letter, dated December 5, 2017, that his client has instructed him to consent to the Request for Reconsideration.

ORder

4The Tribunal orders as follows:

a. The Request for Reconsideration is granted;

b. If the applicant agrees by January 2, 2018, the Tribunal shall schedule a mediation in this matter; and

c. In the event that the applicant does not agree to a further mediation, the Tribunal shall schedule hearing dates at the earliest possible opportunity.