According to an Apr. 6 interim decision published by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO), Queen’s faces multiple allegations of discrimination from former student Nadia Noor.

In her HRTO application, Noor — who attended Queen’s Faculty of Law from 2010-11 —  alleges  she faced abuse, harassment, intimidation and assault while at the University. She further claims that Queen’s is “known for having an unprofessional and racist environment.”

When reached for comment, University communications told The Journal that Queen’s would not comment on an ongoing matter. 

The interim decision’s purpose was to rule on several formal requests made by Noor. In 2017, Noor filed two requests seeking documents from Queen’s. She also requested a Tribunal Ordered Inquiry to obtain certain documents from the University.

According to the decision, Queen’s opposed both requests to turn over documents. HRTO Vice Chair Jo-Anne Pickel rejected all three requests for being “premature” in the case, adding in the interim’s decision that Noor’s application “remains at an early stage.”

In a Dec. 8 request to the Tribunal, Noor sought to add Legal Aid Ontario as a respondent in the case. According to the decision, Queen’s opposed the request and Legal Aid Ontario “did not respond to it.”

“The applicant’s request to add Legal Aid Ontario as a respondent relates to an allegation in her Application in which she claims that a certain student, J.W., harassed, threatened, and abused her,” the decision read. “The applicant alleged that Queen’s University granted J.W. preferential treatment by assisting her to obtain a contract with Legal Aid Ontario.”

Pickel wrote that she would not find it “appropriate” to add Legal Aid Ontario as a respondent in the case.

“The applicant has made no allegations against Legal Aid Ontario in her Application. I am not persuaded that the allegations in her Application could support a finding that Legal Aid Ontario breached the Code in relation to the applicant,” the decision read.

Pickel explained that the main reason for her conclusion was that Legal Aid Ontario “was never in an employment or service relationship with the applicant,” making any allegations against it outside of the jurisdiction of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

According to the decision, the Tribunal will be “directing a combined summary/preliminary hearing in this case” to move forward after the interim decision.