What is the legal test for oral submissions in an appeal?

An employers’ adviser represented the employer in this appeal. Although invited to participate in the appeal, the worker did not do so. The employer requested a hearing process by way of written submissions. I reviewed the rule found at item #7.5 of the WCAT Manual of Rules of Practice and Procedure and agreed that it was unnecessary to convene an oral hearing for this appeal. The appeal turns on medical evidence as well as other evidence well documented in the claim file. The relevant law and policy can be properly considered on the basis of written submissions and the file evidence. Although there are some issues of credibility and factual issues in dispute, I am satisfied that where the worker’s evidence differs from that of the employer, I have applied the Faryna v. Chorny [1952] 2 D.L.R. test that “the real test of the truth of the story of a witness...must be its harmony with the preponderance of the probabilities which a practical and informed person would readily recognize as reasonable in that place and in those conditions.”