Bettina Burgess

The applicant and respondent entered into Minutes of Settlement requiring the applicant to withdraw his human rights application.

The applicant received the settlement funds but failed to withdraw the application or communicate with his representative or the Tribunal.

After the applicant failed to attend a scheduled teleconference, the Tribunal found that proceeding with the matter would be an abuse of process and dismissed the application.

The applicant filed a human rights application alleging discrimination and failure to accommodate following a work-related injury.

The respondent requested that the application be deferred because the applicant had ongoing proceedings before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) arising from the same facts.

The Tribunal found significant overlap in the factual and remedial issues between the WSIB appeals and the human rights application.

To avoid the risk of inconsistent findings and double recovery, the Tribunal ordered that the application be deferred pending the resolution of the WSIB proceedings.

The respondent requested to convert a scheduled oral hearing regarding dismissal under section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code into a hearing on whether to defer the application, conceding that the concurrent WSIB process had not yet appropriately dealt with the substance of the application due to pending appeals.

The applicant supported addressing deferral but requested oral submissions.

The Tribunal cancelled the oral hearing, determining that a decision on deferral would not finally dispose of the application and could be efficiently addressed through written submissions.

The applicant filed an application alleging discrimination in employment on the basis of disability, claiming the respondent failed to accommodate his work-related injury.

The respondent requested early dismissal under section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code, arguing the substance of the application was already dealt with by the WSIB.

The Tribunal issued an interim decision directing the applicant to advise within 14 days whether he wishes to make oral submissions on the dismissal request, in accordance with section 43(2) of the Code.