A recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal reiterates the necessity of obtaining a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, with or without a Will, in order to be allowed to continue with a human rights compliant before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.
In Pollard v. York Condominium Corporation, 2018 HRTO 1149 (CanLII), the Applicant alleged discrimination on the basis of disability. The Applicant was fired from his empl
oyment as a superintendent, allegedly on the basis that he was absent from work due to a disability. The Applicant later died, and the Respondent applied for an Order dismissing the Application because no Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee had been obtained. The deceased Applicant’s wife sought to continue the Application.
The Human Rights Tribunal reviewed case law to the effect that an application under the Human Rights Code cannot proceed without the formal appointment of an Estate Trustee.
Rather than dismiss the Application, the Human Rights Tribunal allowed the Applicant’s wife six months to obtain a Certificate of Appointment. If no Certificate was obtained within that time, the Application was to be dismissed.
The requirement of a Certificate of Appointment can cause significant hardship for an applicant. They must incur the costs of applying for the Certificate. In many cases, the estate has no assets: either because it is impecunious or because the assets pass outside of the estate. In other cases, the estate would have to pay Estate Administration Tax that might not otherwise be payable.
There is a similar requirement to obtain a Certificate of Appointment in order to continue other civil litigation: see David Smith’s blog, here.
Have a great long weekend.