Richelle M. Pollard

The applicant filed a human rights application alleging age discrimination and reprisal, while also having an ongoing Small Claims Court action seeking damages for injury to dignity.

The Tribunal declined to defer the application to the civil proceeding because the respondent took the position that the court lacked jurisdiction due to the applicant's union membership.

However, the Tribunal raised the issue of whether section 34(11) of the Human Rights Code barred the application entirely while the civil action remained active, and directed the parties to provide further written submissions on this jurisdictional issue.

The applicant failed to attend a scheduled case conference call regarding their human rights application against the school board.

The respondents requested the application be dismissed as abandoned.

The Tribunal declined to dismiss the application at this stage but issued directions requiring the applicant to explain their absence and confirm their intention to proceed.

The Tribunal also denied the applicant's requests for additional document disclosure, finding the requested documents were either irrelevant to the narrowed scope of the hearing or did not exist, and set the order of witnesses for the upcoming hearing.