A $100-million class-action lawsuit is seeking justice for family members of residents who died during COVID-19 while in long-term care homes owned or operated by Sienna Senior Living Inc. or Revera Inc.
Revera Inc. owns/operates Mackenzie Place on George Street in Newmarket, which had one of the most virulent outbreaks in York Region that, over 47 days, saw 15 resident deaths, 80 of 90 residents infected, and 24 health-care worker cases.
Revera also owns/operates Eagle Terrace on Eagle Street in Newmarket, which had a 36-day outbreak that resulted in the death of one resident — Newmarket's first COVID-19 related death — and four resident and two health-care worker cases.
“This is a horrible situation that’s happening. I’m not surprised," said Darryl Singer, Diamond and Diamond lawyer for the plaintiffs. "I’ve done nursing home cases for years. The issues we’re seeing are systemic issues that predate COVID-19, and the reason they weren’t ready for COVID is they just weren’t ready for anything."
Diamond and Diamond filed the suit against Sienna Senior Living Inc. and Revera Inc., and is representing clients across Canada.
The lawsuit alleges negligence and breach of contract.
The law firm Thomson Rogers is representing resident families specifically of Woodbridge Vista Care Community in Vaughan in their own $15-million suit against Sienna.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care appointed William Osler Health System on June 4 as interim manager of the outbreak that in less than a month caused nearly half of the residents of the 216-bed home to test positive, and 37 health-care workers. Days later, members of the Canadian military were deployed to the home.
To date, 23 residents have died, the second highest in York Region after River Glen Haven Nursing Home in Sutton, where 34 residents have died with COVID-19.
The other Sienna Living facility in York Region at which a COVID-19 outbreak has occurred with fatalities is Villa Leonardo Gambin in Woodbridge, where 12 residents have died to date, and 45 residents and 35 health-care workers are infected.
Sienna Senior Living also owns Bradford Valley Care Community in Bradford West Gwillimbury, one of the long-term care homes in Simcoe County hardest hit by COVID-19.
Singer said other smaller lawsuits have been filed in regards to individual homes, but his class-action suit also takes those homes into account as the largest class-action suit filed against the providers.
According to the statement of claim filed May 12, the plaintiffs allege that injuries and eventual deaths of their loved ones were caused by the negligence of the defendants.
Alleged negligence cited in the claim include failing to follow acceptable practices regarding the prevention and containment of contagious illnesses such as COVID-19, failure to plan for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic or any similar outbreak of infectious disease, failure to have adequate staff, and failure to communicate adequately with families of residents.
The suit also alleges a failure to comply with public health guidelines and directives regarding outbreak planning, supply, use, and access to personal protective equipment, resident isolation and testing and employee testing and screening.
“Had the defendants met the minimum standard of care expected of Ontario retirement and long-term care communities, they would have been able to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and ultimately lessen the impact of COVID-19 to their residents,” reads the claim.
The claim also alleges the defendants were aware of the serious deficiencies in the care delivered to residents.
“This has been brought to their attention by media reports, patient complaints, family complaints, government investigations, ombudsman investigations, and numerous other sources,” reads the claim. “Despite (this)... the defendants have chosen to continue to provide inferior care so as to maximize corporate profits at all costs.”
The allegations in the statement of claim have not yet been proven in court.
In an emailed statement, Natalie Gokchenian, director of communications and stakeholder relations with Sienna Senior Living Inc., acknowledged the lawsuit.
“We are aware of the proposed class-action proceedings and will address this matter as required through the appropriate court processes,” she wrote.
Singer said a case conference is expected to occur sometime this summer.
“I’m anticipating that’s going to happen in July, or by August at the latest,” he said. “We’re moving fairly quickly on it.”
Since the lawsuit was originally filed, Singer says his law firm has dealt with a “flood of unexpected help.”
“We’ve had employees and former employees of the homes calling asking what they can do, or saying, ‘Let me tell you what’s really going on',” said Singer. “They’ve given us statements at this point, as well.”
Meanwhile, there has been a recent shake-up in management at Sienna Senior Living.
According to a news release sent out this week by law firm Thomson Rogers, two senior executives of Sienna have recently been dismissed or resigned.
Sienna’s executive vice-president of operations, Joanne Dykeman, allegedly made disparaging and mocking comments about Woodbridge Vista residents and their family members during a virtual meeting on June 3.
On June 4, Dykeman was dismissed from her employment.
On June 12, the president and CEO of Sienna, Lois Cormack, resigned from her position, for “personal reasons,” according to a news release from Sienna Living.
Her replacement, Nitin Jain, was announced the same day. Jain had served as chief financial officer and chief investment officer at Sienna since joining the company in 2014.
While the class-action lawsuit has been filed with representative plaintiffs, class and sub-class plaintiffs can be added. If you have a family member who has died in a Sienna or Revera-owned or operated home during the COVID-19 pandemic and would like information on joining the lawsuit, contact Diamond and Diamond.
— With files from Debora Kelly
