Scott Simser

The applicant, a deaf person, filed a human rights complaint alleging that the failure of the Building Code to require rear window captioning in movie theatres constituted discrimination.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission decided not to refer the complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal, finding insufficient evidence of a denial of a service and noting that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to amend legislation.

The applicant sought judicial review.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that the Commission's gate-keeping decision was not patently unreasonable, as the Tribunal cannot read in provisions to the Building Code to make it comply with the Human Rights Code.

The applicant, who has moderate hearing loss, applied to be a firefighter but failed the hearing test without his hearing aid.

The City of Toronto declined to hire him after an expert audiologist concluded he could not safely perform the duties even with a hearing aid.

The applicant filed a human rights complaint, which the Ontario Human Rights Commission declined to refer to the Tribunal, finding the hearing standard was a bona fide occupational requirement and the applicant had been individually assessed.

The Divisional Court dismissed the applicant's application for judicial review, holding that the Commission's decision was not patently unreasonable.