The survivors as well as families of victims of a deadly outbreak of legionnaires’ disease at a Scarborough nursing home will be sharing a $1.2 million settlement.
Last week, Madame Justice Barbara Conway approved the deal between the plaintiffs in the class action suit against the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto which owns and operates the Seven Oaks Nursing Home for the Aged.
In September and October 2005, as many as 135 people, including residents, visitors, staffers and even neighbours were reportedly affected.
There were 23 deaths attributed to the outbreak of legionella pneumophilia, which causes legionnaires’ disease (a bacterial pneumonia) and Pontiac fever, a milder, non-pneumonia infection.
Legionnaires’ disease is not contagious but is picked up by the inhalation of contaminated water particles. At Seven Oaks, they were traced to the air conditioning system.
It took public health officials 10 days to identify the cause of the deaths, which they managed to do from autopsy results. By then, it was too late for many of the aged and frail residents.
The class action alleged that the City of Toronto was negligent in the design and maintenance of the cooling system and that the province was negligent in testing for the disease.
Because the settlement took eight years to reach, Justice Conway wrote that she considered approval “to be fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the class.”
“Many of the plaintiffs are ill and elderly and it serves nobody’s purpose to push this to trial which could take many more years,” co-counsel Sharon Strosberg said in a telephone interview from her office in Windsor, On. “The court has decided this settlement is fair and reasonable under the circumstances.”
Under the settlement terms, eligible class members will receive up to $30,000 in base payments, depending on the extent of their illness. Surviving family members will receive up to $20,000.
Those stricken with the less severe Pontiac fever will be awarded $500.
In addition to the $1.2 million settlement, the defendants will cover the class legal fees of $356,500 and provide $250,000 to settle any associated claims by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and OHIP relating to past and future medical expenses for class members.
Strosberg could not specify exactly how many people are eligible for payment.
“People have until June 12 to file their claim for compensation so we won’t really know until that time,” she explained, adding class members should check in at http://www.sevenoaksclassaction.com “Some people may not file a claim but the money is there.”
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