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A Quebec judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against a private long-term care home in Montréal-Nord over alleged mismanagement of a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, during which at least 68 residents died.
Lead plaintiff Antonio Capobianco alleges that Résidence Angelica’s actions contributed to the death of his 95-year-old mother, Filomena Greco, and others, as well as having a lasting impact on the survivors and their families.
The lawsuit alleges the residence failed to follow proper protocol to manage a COVID-19 outbreak, including by transferring COVID-positive patients to a unit with people who were not known to be infected.
It also alleges that the residence failed to respect government-mandated infection control procedures, including ensuring staff members who were sick or had been exposed to the virus didn’t come to work.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been tested in court, and the residence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is seeking damages on behalf of all the people who resided in the home between April 9 and June 26, 2020, as well as their spouses, caregivers, children, grandchildren and heirs.
The class action is not the only lawsuit filed in connection with the pandemic.
In January 2024, a Quebec judge gave the green light to a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes (or CHSLDs, as they’re called in Quebec) that experienced major COVID-19 outbreaks between March 13, 2020, and March 20, 2021.
The suit alleges that the Quebec government made a series of mistakes when the pandemic began that contributed to large outbreaks and thousands of deaths.
According to Patrick Martin-Ménard, the lawyer who pushed for the suit to be authorized, 118 long-term care homes are included in the class action.