At any time, a settlement can occur during the human rights process. The BC HRT website also states that you can request a mediation meeting at any time.
Some people file a human rights complaint and then, soon after, send a demand letter. Sometimes, if you tell the school that you filed a human rights complaint, they try and make things right. They offer support in exchange for a withdrawal. Which, hey, if your kid gets what they need, success! If the supports leave in the future, file another complaint. Ride it out. Make the complaint last, as they may provide support to limit their damage period. They know they will have to be prepared to provide evidence that they are providing reasonable accommodations.
At any time, you can send a settlement offer through email, titled “Without prejudice” at the top. Doesn’t matter where you are in the process. You can search on the internet for examples of settlement offers, but really, it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. There are many pages on the BC Human Rights Tribunal Website to read about settlement.
At the beginning of your complaint process, once it’s been accepted, the tribunal will automatically set up a mediation meeting with a mediator. If both parties have legal representation, they are encouraged to do it on their own. But mediation meetings do sometimes fail, and settlement can still occur after.
A lot of settlements happen a couple of weeks before a hearing. This is quite typical, and if you follow hearings on the HRT website, a lot of them drop off before the actual hearing date. At the last case conference before the hearing, the tribunal will encourage both parties to try again with a mediator and organize the mediation meeting.
Some people settle days before a hearing. Settlement can even occur during a hearing. Quite a sizeable chunk of people settle after a hearing and everyone’s cards have been shown.
At some point during the process, parents are sometimes approached by the respondents and asked, what do you feel your child needs in order to be successful? They look at offering them another opportunity to come back to school with more support. This may be appealing to you and mitigate the harm your child has already experienced.
If you are fighting for a monetary settlement amount, the amount you are fighting for is for your kid. This is money that will be held in trust until they are 19. You and/or they can access this money for them. For speech therapy, or counselling, etc. If they want something, and if you agree, they can request portions of it for something they want/need. If you can get your kid back into school with the support they need to be successful, this is also a benefit to them. Getting them the support they need can be way more valuable than any dollar amount you could end up with for them.
I just encourage parents to be open to various ways of obtaining a benefit for their child and other children. Policies can come out of settlements, changes in practice, etc. For most parents, the whole point of filing a human rights complaint is for their child. You can be creative. BUT, I highly suggest you consider getting something of a monetary amount. Even a couple of thousand dollars can go towards counselling, which may be very helpful. Some of the creative resolutions won’t be held up by a court if they don’t fulfill their commitment, but a monetary amount will be.
There have been cases where they have tried to wiggle out of the creative mediation agreements, or given the bare minimum, but still legally fit the terms of the agreement. That’s why I say, if you get at least some monetary amount, you have something. Then you can always file another complaint if the issue is persistent.
If you want a hearing instead of a settlement, I get it. I certainly won’t be the person to try and talk you out of it.
As always, I encourage you to seek legal advice when going through a settlement and having a lawyer review your settlement agreement.
