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An Ontario family is joining others in filing a nursing home class action lawsuit after a recent COVID outbreak allegedly led to the deaths of 53 residents at Roberta Place.
In January, the U.K. variant of COVID-19 was linked to the outbreak at the Roberta Place long term home in Barrie. The city remains under a state of emergency because of the highly contagious virus variant.
This latest class action lawsuit joins an expanding collection of various legal actions related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than 100 facilities are facing allegations of gross negligence from at least 40 families claiming that not enough was done to keep their loved ones safe from getting infected, according to Barrie 360. The plaintiffs are seeking $50 million in damages.
Marcella Lambie, a plaintiff in the lawsuit joining the class action, claims her brother came down with COVID-19 as a result of the nursing home’s negligence. She adds that his health has been rapidly deteriorating since, Barrie Today reports.
Canada’s public health authorities reportedly officially declared a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility on Jan. 8., but failed to enact any protective policies, Lambie said.
She describes an out-of-control spread in the facility, with 128 active cases reported so far within Roberta Place’s 137 bed facility.
Lambie accuses the parent company of Roberta Place of failing to follow protocols after the outbreak designation in the lawsuit.
She refers to inspections by regulators who reportedly found that the bare minimums weren’t being met at Roberta Place, in addition to observing residents who were COVID positive mingling with others.
The class action lawsuit alleges Roberta Place failed to adequately plan for the outbreak, didn’t supply proper levels of personal protective equipment, and never screened visitors or enacted a no visiting policy.
“As a result of the Defendants’ failures to adequately and properly plan, prepare and respond to the COVID-19 virus, the virus has run rampant through the Roberta Place Long Term Care Home,” the class action lawsuit asserts.
Lambie was left asking how these protocols weren’t followed, considering her brother spends $2,700 a month to the company in charge of his care, Barrie Today reports.
“The misconduct was motivated by the Defendants’ desire to maximize the amount of profits they could reap from Class Members, who were vulnerable to the conduct of the Defendants,” Lambie said in the Roberta Place complaint.
The scope of this nursing homes’ class action lawsuit is growing. The lawsuit seeks to represent a class of members who’ve lived or are currently living in one of the named long term care homes.
Plaintiffs are seeking Punitive, aggravated, exemplary, and mental distress damages for alleged breach of contract, negligence, gross negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Do you have loved ones living in a nursing home? If so, how do you think the facility is handling the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comments below.
Lambie is representing by Gayle T. Brock, Anthony S. Windwar of Brock Medical Malpractice Law PC; Robert Durante and Ben Irantalab of Oatley Vigmond LLP.
The Roberta Place Nursing Home Class Action Lawsuit is Head, et al., v. Barrie Long Term Care Centre Inc., et al., Case No. CV-21-00000142-00CP, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.
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