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A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit that was filed after patients were strip searched at a hospital in Nova Scotia in 2012. Class Members will be entitled to a payment of $5,000 each, according to the law firm representing them.
The proposed settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 33 forensic psychiatry patients who were reportedly subjected to a strip search at the East Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on Oct. 16, 2012.
According to the class action these strip searches were initiated after the Capital District Health Authority, which operates the East Coast Forensic Hospital, found out that patients at the hospital possessed illicit drugs on the premises.
The East Coast Forensic Hospital cares for patients who have been determined unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible, according to court documents. These patients receive treatment in the rehabilitation wing of the hospital, which has 30 beds. A separate unit, which also has 30 beds, houses criminal inmates.
According to the strip search class action lawsuit, in 2012 there was reportedly a series of events that suggested there were illegal substances on the hospital’s premises.
With the hospital’s permission, Correctional Services Workers from the Provincial Department of Justice strip searched 33 patients at the East Coast Forensic Hospital. According to the strip search class action, these patients were from the rehabilitation unit of the hospital and were not considered inmates.
A strip search refers to an inspection technique that requires a person to undress completely and expose bodily orifices for visual inspection. There is no touching involved in a strip search, according to the definition given in court documents.
One of the patients filed the strip search class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and the other patients who had been strip searched at the hospital. He claims he was forced to undergo a strip search at the hospital with the door open, potentially allowing other patients to see the search.
The hospital strip search class action lawsuit was initially filed in December 2013. The lawsuit was certified as a class action in 2015 when Justice Denise Boudreau determined that strip searches were highly intrusive.
“These strip searches may ultimately be found to have been reasonable, or not,” she wrote. “Regardless, important questions are raised, and a class action will allow those questions to be litigated.”
The law firm representing the Class Members said in a press release that “it is alleged that the decision to strip search all patients was done without reasonable grounds and thereby in breach of their Charter rights.”
The settlement is awaiting approval by a Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Judge. A hearing is scheduled for March 23.
What do you think about this hospital strip search class action lawsuit? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
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The plaintiff is represented by Michael Dull.
The Hospital Strip Search Class Action Lawsuit is Capital District Health Authority v. Murray, et al., Case No. CA 439251, in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, Canada.
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