Part 53 published on 01/02/16
Owner asserts human rights complaint in relation to alleged excessive noise from unit above. Claim dismissed
An owner asserted a Human Rights complaint against the corporation’s manager, for alleged failure to take steps to accommodate the owner’s disability by taking steps to stop excessive noise from the unit above.
The Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the complaint. The Tribunal held that the applicant was indeed a person with a disability, in that he requires proper sleep due to an ailment; and the Tribunal also held that noise may disturb that sleep. However, the Tribunal held that there was no failure to accommodate. The Tribunal said:
In order to prove that he experienced discrimination, the applicant must show he experienced an adverse impact with respect to the service provided by the respondent and that his disability was a factor in the adverse impact.
…
… there is no evidence to suggest that the respondent’s actions in addressing the applicant’s noise complaints were unfair or had an adverse impact on him because of his disability. As well, there is no evidence to suggest that the respondent should have followed a different response process in order to meet the applicant’s disability related needs. The applicant agrees that the respondent answered his call and investigated each time he made a complaint. The respondent had engaged a sound engineer to conduct noise testing; however, the applicant refused to allow the sound engineer to enter his condominium to conduct this testing.