ARTICLE
16 August 2013

Don't Abuse The Human Rights Tribunal, Adjudicator Warns

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A Human Rights Tribunal adjudicator got a got a strong whiff of cod from the application in Doe v A & W Canada, 2013 HRTO 1259, which was brought by the pseudonymous Gloria Dawn Ironbox (named after a radical lesbian feminist character in the TV series Family Guy).
Canada Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration
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A Human Rights Tribunal adjudicator got a got a strong whiff of cod from the application in Doe v A & W Canada, 2013 HRTO 1259, which was brought by the pseudonymous Gloria Dawn Ironbox (named after a radical lesbian feminist character in the TV series Family Guy). The complaint was that the names of various offerings on A&W's menu in its restaurant in the Cornwall Square Mall -- Teen Burger, Mama Burger, Papa Burger -- 'increased with maleness and seniority' in a 'heteronormative' and 'phallocentric' way that the claimant said offended her dignity and self-respect. Why, it was argued, was there not an Unappreciated Custodial Parent Burger?

David Wright, the adjudicator, noted that the claim itself acknowledged that it was 'ridiculous', 'outrageous, nay 'abusive'. When pressed to reveal his or her true identity, the applicant argued that it was OK to proceed under a pseudonym and, anyway, that a radical lesbian feminist need not actually be a woman (or 'womyn', as the submissions had it). The adjudicator disagreed; using a false name, and for a purpose unrelated the enforcement of the Human Rights Code, was an abuse of process and it was evident that the application did not involve an infringement of the applicant's own rights. In the adjudicator's view, 'There is no right or entitlement to abuse the system to make a point'.

http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/doc/2013/2013hrto1259/2013hrto1259.html

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