CITATION: Oyewumi v. Human Rights Tribunal Ontario, 2017 ONSC 484
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 117/16 DATE: 2017/01/19
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE DIVISIONAL COURT
KITELEY, SWINTON and RAMSAY JJ.
BETWEEN:
OLUBUKOLA OYEWUMI
Applicant
– and –
HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, and ALAN KERR
Respondents
Adetayo G. Akinyemi, for the Applicant, Olubukola Oyewumi
Jason Tam, for the Respondent, Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
Albert G. Formosa and Macdonald R.I. Allen for the Respondents, University of Guelph, and Alan Kerr
HEARD at Toronto: January 19, 2017
SWINTON J. (Orally)
[1] The applicant, a former graduate student at the University of Guelph, seeks judicial review of a decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) dated July 31, 2015 and the reconsideration decision dated January 29, 2016. The decisions dismissed the applicant’s claim that the University and an individual acting as the Chair and Graduate Coordinator of his department discriminated against him on the basis of race, colour, place of origin and reprisal when he was instructed to withdraw from the University on academic grounds.
[2] The basis for the Tribunal’s initial decision was that the applicant’s application was not filed within one year of the last incident of alleged discrimination as required by s.34(1) of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 (the “Code”).
[3] The Tribunal found that the last incident of alleged discrimination occurred August 18, 2011, the date of the decision of the Admissions and Progress Committee of the Board of Graduate Studies. The application to the Tribunal was filed almost two years later. The Tribunal also found that the decision of the Senate Petitions Committee in August 2012 was not an incident of discrimination. The Tribunal found that the decision of the Petitions Committee was not an incident of discrimination because the Tribunal does not review the adjudicative decisions of other tribunals. In the alternative, the applicant had no reasonable prospect of establishing discrimination by the Petitions Committee, as his allegations were bald and lacked evidentiary foundation. The Tribunal declined to exercise its discretion to waive the time limit, as the applicant had not provided a reasonable explanation for the delay. The Tribunal subsequently rejected the request for reconsideration.
[4] The standard of review of the Tribunal’s decision is reasonableness (Shaw v. Phipps, 2012 ONCA 155 at para. 10).
[5] Even if the applicant alleges systemic discrimination, it is still necessary to identify the last incident of discrimination in order to determine if the application to the Tribunal is timely.
[6] In our view, the decision of the Tribunal to dismiss the application of the applicant as untimely was a reasonable outcome. It was reasonable for the Tribunal to find that the last event of alleged discrimination occurred August 18, 2011 when he was asked to withdraw from the University because of his academic record. It was reasonable for the Tribunal to conclude that the decision of the Petitions Committee, an internal appeal body constituted by the Senate and subject to judicial review, was not an incident of discrimination, and that in any event there was no reasonable prospect of success in establishing that the Petitions Committee or its decision was discriminatory. Therefore, there is no basis for judicial intervention.
[7] Accordingly, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
costs – Kiteley J.
[8] I have endorsed the Application Record, Volume 1 as follows: “The application is dismissed for oral reasons given. On consent, applicant shall pay costs to the respondent in the amount of $5,000.”
___________________________ Swinton J.
I agree
Kiteley J.
I agree
Ramsay J.
Date of Reasons for Judgment: January 19, 2017
Date of Release: January 20, 2017
CITATION: Oyewumi v. Human Rights Tribunal Ontario, 2017 ONSC 484
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 117/16 DATE: 2017/01/19
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
DIVISIONAL COURT
KITELEY, SWINTON and RAMSAY JJ.
BETWEEN:
OLUBUKOLA OYEWUMI
Applicant
– and –
HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, and ALAN KERR
Respondents
ORAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
SWINTON J.
Date of Reasons for Judgment: January 19, 2017
Date of Release: January 20, 2017