A $17-million class-action settlement has been approved after plaintiffs alleged decades of mistreatment of psychiatric patients at the Restigouche Hospital Centre in northern New Brunswick.
In a decision released today, the chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench approved the deal between former patients and the province and Vitalité Health Network, saying it was “fair and reasonable.”
Justice Tracey DeWare referred to the agreement as the largest negotiated class-action settlement ever approved in New Brunswick.
The action alleged the defendants breached their legal duties in the way they operated the Campbellton, N.B., centre, and as a result people suffered physical and sexual assaults.
The lawsuit was filed in 2019 after a report by provincial ombudsman Charles Murray, titled “Failure to Protect,” revealed patients had been victims of mistreatment and inadequate care at the 140-bed hospital.
The judge’s decision allows class members who suffered physical or sexual assaults dating back decades to receive amounts ranging from $10,000 to $85,000, depending on the severity and number of assaults.
There is also compensation for other former patients who were at Restigouche through the time period agreed to, with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on how long they were residents.
DeWare concluded the proposed settlement was the “best possible outcome for the majority of the class members” and that the settlement system, which avoids a trial, was “user friendly.” She said a court process would have meant people had to wait “many years” for a result.
The judge said the people seeking the lower compensation amounts need only show they were a patient at the hospital, and the duration of their stay. People who suffered physical or sexual abuse will need to provide an affidavit or declaration to establish what happened to them at the centre, wrote the judge.
People allowed in the class action included those who resided or were admitted between May 24, 2004, and Oct. 1, 2021, and who were alive as of May 24, 2017.
It also includes those who were admitted to or resided at the centre from Jan. 1, 1954, to Oct. 1, 2021, who claim they were sexually assaulted.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, James Sayce, said in an email that approximately 2,500 people are eligible to make a claim.
In her decision, DeWare sympathized with the frustration of people whose abuse does not fall in the time frame of the settlement, but she added they “may pursue their own action should they choose to do so.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.