After more than three years of proceedings, the Superior Court authorizes a class action which will affect nearly 120 public CHSLDs.
Open in full screen mode
More than 5,000 seniors lost their lives in Quebec living environments during the first wave of COVID-19.
- Daniel Boily (View profile)Daniel Boily
- Davide Gentile (View profile)Davide Gentile
Speech synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from written text.
Following almost four years of efforts, a group represented by lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard obtained authorization to move forward with a class action against the government of Quebec on behalf of all CHSLD residents who had experienced outbreaks of COVID-19 during the first two waves of the pandemic, and on behalf of the families of those who died.
The main complainant in this request initially filed in April 2020, Jean-Pierre Daubois, had lost his 94-year-old mother, a resident of the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée de Laval, in April 2020. During this first wave, nearly half of its residents infected with COVID-19 had died.
According to the judgment consulted by Radio -Canada, nearly 120 public CHSLDs will be included in the collective action.
Any person who resided at any time between March 13, 2020 and March 20, 2021 in one of Quebec's public CHSLDs in which there was an outbreak of 25% or more cases of COVID-19, as well as their spouse , their natural caregiver(s), their children and their grandchildren, as well as the heirs and beneficiaries of deceased residents.
A quote from Extract from the judgment of the Superior Court
The group argued that the deficiency and negligence in the provision of care and hygiene measures offered to residents of this CHSLD had the consequences of the spread and outbreak of COVID-19 and ultimately caused contamination and deaths of residents of this CHSLD.
During the hearings last September, Me Martin-Ménard affirmed that the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée experienced the worst outbreak in Quebec, and one of the worst on the planet. Through what we learned in this case, we noted that there had been several shortcomings in preparation and management.
Loading in progress< source srcset="https://images.radio-canada.ca/q_auto,w_600/v1/ici-info/17x6/universite-mcgill-campus-vue-aerienne-montreal.jpg" media="(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 1023px)">
The war in Gaza puts Canadian universities under pressure
ELSELSE ON NEWS: The war in Gaza puts Canadian universities under pressure
We want the government of Quebec be held responsible for this lack of preparation, declared Jean-Pierre Daubois. There was serious incompetence on their part, we want that to change.
The latter wanted the collective action affects all CHSLDs where there was an outbreak.
A press briefing is planned later this morning.
Tens of thousands of dollars are being claimed in damages for each of the residents who survived as well as for the families of the deceased. An additional $10 million in punitive damages is sought for the class.
- Daniel Boily (Consult profile)Daniel BoilyFollow
- Davide Gentile (View profile)Davide GentileFollow