A Quebec court has greenlit a class-action lawsuit against a Montreal North care home alleged to have mismanaged its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At its peak, more than 230 residents had COVID at Résidence Angelica, nearly 70 per cent of the total population. More than 70 residents died from COVID in 2020; another 40 residents were said to have died of natural causes during that period. Families at the time questioned whether those deaths would have occurred if the staff hadn’t been infected by the virus as well.
The lawsuit, approved in late March, alleges that at least some of the deaths resulted from the residence’s failure to follow public health guidelines.
According to the filing, the care home transferred residents who had tested positive for the virus to a unit with no confirmed cases, without providing adequate protective equipment.
Representatives of Résidence Angelica told employees who had contact with a COVID-positive colleague that they could still come to work, the lawsuit alleges. The filing also claims that an employee was made to work although they were waiting for results from a COVID test that would turn out to be positive.
The allegations have yet to be tested in court.
Lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard will represent the class action, seeking damages for every person who resided at the home between March 13 and Dec. 1, 2020, as well as their spouses, caregivers, children, grandchildren and heirs.
The class action’s lead plaintiff is Antonio Capobianco, whose 95-year-old mother, Filomena Greco, died from COVID at the residence in April 2020.
The Gazette has contacted Résidence Angelica for comment.