Court File and Parties
CITATION: Nemati v. Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2011 ONSC 5431
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 103/11
DATE: 20110915
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
DIVISIONAL COURT
CHAPNIK. HOY AND HOURIGAN JJ.
BETWEEN:
DARYOUSH NEMATI
Applicant
– and –
HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO and ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
Respondents
In Person
Margaret Leighton, for the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
Lai-King Hum and Adam D. H. Chisholm, for the Respondent, Ontario College of Teachers
HEARD at Toronto: September 15, 2011
Oral Reasons for Judgment
HOY J. (orally)
[1] Mr. Nemati seeks judicial review of the September 2, 2010 decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. In that decision, the Tribunal found the Ontario College of Teachers - whose policies required Mr. Nemati, a Convention refugee, to have original transcripts sent directly to it from issuing institutions in Iran in order to evaluate his application to be certified as a teacher in Ontario - discriminated against Mr. Nemati by reason of place of origin, contrary to the Human Rights Code.
[2] The Tribunal awarded ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) in general damages, inclusive of pre-judgment interest to Mr. Nemati. The Tribunal declined to award Mr. Nemati damages for loss of income.
[3] In its factum, the College argued that Mr. Nemati’s application should be dismissed for delay as it was commenced six months after the Tribunal’s decision. We have proceeded to dismiss this application on its merits without oral submissions from the College or the Tribunal, and therefore will not address this preliminary issue.
[4] Mr. Nemati argued that the Tribunal erred in awarding general damages of only ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), not awarding pre-judgment interest and not awarding damages for loss of income.
[5] This Court has previously recognized that the Tribunal is highly specialized and the standard of review applicable to its decisions is that of reasonableness. Its decisions are to be accorded the highest degree of deference.
[6] After reading the materials filed, including the detailed and cogent reasons of the Tribunal, and hearing the submissions of Mr. Nemati, we are, as previously stated, satisfied that this application should be dismissed. In our view, it was reasonable for the Tribunal to find on the material before it that Mr. Nemati lacked the required academic and language proficiency requirements for certification with the result that he would not have been certified in 2002 or any time thereafter, regardless of the discriminatory conduct on the part of the College.
[7] The Tribunal’s further finding, that without certification, Mr. Nemati would have had no chance of being hired to teach in Ontario and therefore any claim for lost income was held to be unwarranted was also, on the materials before the Tribunal, reasonable.
[8] We note that Mr. Nemati urged on us that the correct test in evaluating his loss of income claim was that of reasonable possibility. We do not accept that this is the applicable test but whether or not it is, as noted above, the Tribunal’s finding was that Mr. Nemati had no chance.
[9] The assessment of general damages, which the Tribunal described as meaningful, was also reasonable in the circumstances of this case.
[10] An award of pre-judgment interest is discretionary. The ten thousand dollar ($10,000.00) general damages award in fact was inclusive of pre-judgment interest.
[11] The respondent, Ontario College of Teachers, shall be entitled to costs in the all-inclusive sum of $12,000.00.
HOY J.
CHAPNIK J.
HOURIGAN J.
Date of Reasons for Judgment: September 15, 2011
Date of Release: October 4, 2011
CITATION: Nemati v. Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2011 ONSC 5431
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 103/11
DATE: 20110915
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
DIVISIONAL COURT
CHAPNIK. HOY AND HOURIGAN JJ.
BETWEEN:
DARYOUSH NEMATI
Applicant
– and –
HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO and ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
Respondents
ORAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
HOY J.
Date of Reasons for Judgment: September 15, 2011
Date of Release: October 4, 2011