Barrie LTC home plans to defend against allegations in lawsuit over outbreak

Owners of an Ontario long-term care home plan to defend themselves against a class-action lawsuit alleging they failed to protect residents from a COVID-19 outbreak.

Roberta Place Retirement Lodge and Jarlette Inc. are named as defendants in the proposed class action.

The notice of intent was served to lawyers representing residents’ families on Friday.

An unproven statement of claim filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last week alleges Roberta Place failed to take basic measures to protect residents against COVID-19.

RELATED: 66 residents have died at Roberta Place long-term care home

An outbreak at the Barrie, Ont., home driven by a more infectious variant of the virus has infected nearly all residents in the home and killed 66 since Jan. 8.

The court document alleges that the facility failed to separate residents infected with COVID-19 from those who didn’t have the virus, among other allegations.