Rachel Turnpenney

The applicant filed a Request for Order During Proceedings seeking to add E&E Seegmiller Limited and Les Coulas as respondents and to amend her Application alleging sexual harassment and reprisal.

The Tribunal noted that Les Coulas was already named as a personal respondent.

Applying the Smyth test, the Tribunal added E&E Seegmiller Limited as a corporate respondent because it was the employer of Les Coulas.

The Tribunal also permitted the applicant to amend her Application, finding no prejudice to the respondents.

The corporate respondent requested that the Tribunal defer consideration of the applicant's human rights application pending the conclusion of a civil wrongful dismissal claim filed by the personal respondent against the corporate respondent.

The applicant opposed the deferral.

The Tribunal denied the deferral request, finding that the legal issues in the two proceedings were distinct and there was no significant risk of inconsistent decisions of fact or law.

The respondents requested that the human rights application be barred or deferred because the applicant had commenced a civil action for wrongful dismissal.

The Tribunal found that the application was not barred under s. 34(11) of the Human Rights Code because the civil action did not allege any Code-protected grounds or seek a Code remedy.

The Tribunal also declined to defer the application, noting that the civil action was stayed and the potential for duplicative proceedings was remote.