Marie Ee Lin Chen

The appellant appealed a decision of the Social Benefits Tribunal finding he did not meet the definition of a person with a disability under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act.

The appellant argued the Tribunal erred in law by misapprehending new medical evidence filed before the hearing.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding the Tribunal correctly weighed the new evidence, determining it was either inconsistent with earlier reports or reflected a deterioration in condition after the Director's decision.

The complainant filed human rights complaints against the Toronto Police Services Board, the Chief of Police, and the Toronto Transit Commission.

In this interim decision, the Tribunal addressed three preliminary issues.

First, the Toronto Police Association was granted limited intervenor status to address production requests.

Second, the Tribunal dismissed the respondents' argument that the Ontario Human Rights Commission was not a party as of right, finding that the statutory requirements under the transition provisions of the Human Rights Code were met.

Third, regarding the production of records governed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the Tribunal directed the parties to address the issue at the resumed Initial Conference Call.

Following a successful appeal, the appellants sought costs of $42,000 and $15,000 to $22,500 respectively.

The respondents argued the claims were excessive.

The Divisional Court considered the complexity of the Human Rights Code issues and the unusual circumstance of the Tribunal accidentally losing the record, which increased preparation time.

However, noting the similarity of interests between the two appellants and the principle that costs must be fair and reasonable to the losing party, the court awarded costs on a partial indemnity scale of $10,000 to each appellant.