Class-action lawsuit over COVID-19 outbreaks in Quebec long-term care is approved
Posted January 23, 2024 10:14 am.
Last Updated January 23, 2024 6:55 pm.
A judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec government on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced major COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic’s first year.
The lawsuit in Superior Court alleges that the province’s response to the first two waves of COVID-19 was improvised and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late.
Members of the class action include anyone living in a public long-term care centre that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that infected at least 25 per cent of residents between March 13, 2020, and March 20, 2021.
“We found that there were a number of elements indicating grave neglect on the part of both the public health authorities, the Ministry of Health, as well as the health care authorities. So, which is why we have taken this case and which is why we are moving forward with it now,” said lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard.
The suit seeks compensation of at least $100,000 for each member who was infected, $40,000 for class members who didn’t get sick, and additional compensation for both groups’ families.
More than 5,000 people died in Quebec’s long-term care centres during the period covered by the class-action lawsuit, including Jean-Pierre Daubois’ mother who died in April 2020.
“It makes me feel that finally we’re probably going to be able to put in front of the tribunal sufficient evidence to make the government accountable for what [they] did and did not do and should have done,” said Daubois.
“The nurse was taking care of my mother during the day shift. She was hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Sacré-Coeur at the time of my mother’s death, so it was a catastrophic situation for them, you know, they were trying to do their best with the little they had. The doctor refused to come inside the CHSLD because he was afraid of COVID. They were left to themselves.”
The class action also aims to obtain an extra $10 million in punitive damages, and it alleges that government decisions — including to move hospital patients into long-term care centres — led to additional deaths.
“The final number will depend on the number of claims that there will be, the number of relatives that there will be as well,” said Martin-Ménard.
CityNews reached out to the provincial government, but they say they won’t comment on the case since it’s before the courts. Martin-Ménard says cases like this will be lengthy and is expecting more potential plaintiffs to come forward.
“In all of our files, we’re always hoping for settlements. We’re always open to discuss,” added Martin-Ménard.
“Keep hope. We’re moving ahead. We have our first big step today, the decision of the tribunal to authorize this class action. This is a big step. Now we have to put the evidence to the tribunal,” said Daubois.
-With files from The Canadian Press
