The Human Rights Tribunal will defer an Application under the Human Rights Code to avoid the possibility of proceedings running concurrently reaching conflicting results. The most recent case is Daykin v. Ford Motor Company of Canada where the Tribunal applied a consistent line of principles to the effect that:
The Tribunal has held that some of the factors that may be relevant in deciding whether to defer consideration of an application are the subject matter of the other proceeding, the nature of the other proceeding, the type of remedies available in the other proceeding, and whether it would be fair overall to the parties to defer, having regard to the status of each proceeding and the steps that have been taken to pursue them see, Christianson v. College of Physicians and Surgeons, 2009 HRTO 438 (CanLII), 2009 HRTO 438, at para. 10 and Groves v. Ontario (Community Safety and Correctional Services), 2010 HRTO 1779 (CanLII), 2010 HRTO 1779.
Where, as in this case, there is a pending grievance based on the "same facts and human rights issues", the Tribunal will generally defer the Application. This is what they did in the Daykin case and they held that this was the "most fair, just and expeditious approach".
