Kathy Chittley-Young

The applicant sought to reactivate his human rights application following the conclusion of an Employment Standards proceeding regarding his termination and severance pay.

The respondents opposed reactivation and requested the application be dismissed under section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code, arguing the substance had been dealt with.

The Tribunal granted the reactivation and denied the request to dismiss, finding that the Employment Standards Officer only determined whether the applicant's conduct amounted to wilful misconduct disentitling him to severance, and did not address or make findings inconsistent with the human rights allegations.

The respondents requested that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario defer consideration of the human rights application pending the conclusion of the applicant's concurrent Employment Standards claim with the Ministry of Labour.

Both proceedings arose from the termination of the applicant's employment and sought monetary damages.

The Tribunal found that deferral was the most fair, just, and expeditious way to proceed, given the significant overlap in issues and the potential for duplication of evidence and inconsistent findings.

The application was deferred.