- Procedure (venue)
The worker and employer appealed a decision of the Appeals Resolution Officer regarding ongoing entitlement for an accident. The employer also appealed regarding initial entitlement and SIEF relief.
In this decision, the Vice-Chair determined the location for the hearing.The worker lived in Sarnia and had medical restrictions limiting travel by car to no more than one hour. The Tribunal regularly schedules hearings in London, which is about one hour by car from Sarnia. The employer requested that the hearing be scheduled in Toronto, to minimize travel costs for its three witnesses.The usual practice of the Tribunal is to hold the hearing at the location closest to where the worker lives. Some Tribunal decisions have applied a balance of convenience, but many of those decisions involve right to sue applications, which began in the court system rather that the workers' compensation system.The Vice-Chair concluded that the hearing should be scheduled for London.