'I am so broken:' Vaughan woman leads COVID-19 class action against Villa Colombo

Kleinburg, Toronto long-term-care homes focus on Italian community

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 16, 2020
Kim Zarzour

Some mornings, Domenica Gusciglio struggles to get out of bed or even speak about her grief, still devastated by the “horrifying” treatment and sudden death of her mother in a Vaughan long-term-care home.

Gusciglio is one of several plaintiffs now involved in a $25-million class-action lawsuit against the facility, Villa Colombo, alleging negligence and substandard care.

“I am so broken right now, you can't imagine. No one can possibly understand what happens in these homes and the effects that it has on loved ones,” she said.

Gusciglio lost her mother, Anne Sforza, March 29. It is suspected that her death was a result of COVID-19.

Anna was 86 and had lived at the home on Highway 27 since January 2015.

She describes her relationship with her mom as close and loving, but, despite frequent and regular visits to the home, she says she received little to no communication from Villa Colombo about what they were doing to keep their residents safe from COVID-19.

Anthony DiCaita, president and CEO of Villa Charities Inc. that operates Villa Colomba homes in Vaughan and Toronto, declined to speak about the allegations, which have not been proven in court.

“We have been served, the matter is now before the courts and, at this time, we have no comment,” he said.

On more than one occasion prior to the pandemic, Gusciglio said, she arrived at the home to find her mother alone and crying in a dark room.

During the pandemic, Gusciglio said she observed infection and safety protocols not being followed and alleges negligence and deficiencies in care led to her mother’s demise.

Other residents suffered similar types of injury and damages while under the care of the home, she said.

Sforza, who had dementia, exhibited a high fever and respiratory symptoms a few days before her death, but, although a nurse told her the virus was in the home, Gusciglio said management failed to test her mother or any of the residents or staff for COVID-19.

In the case of her mother, she was given false information about an alleged test and then later told that her mother was not tested, she said.

Gusciglio was advised by an employee that management told their staff to remove masks during this time. She also witnessed preparations for a party in the party room despite there being a lockdown.

As she fought to get better care for her mother, she said she felt intimidated and threatened.

Her lawyer, Jillian Siskind, said several families involved in the lawsuit described the lack of communication by the home about the status of COVID cases in the home and also a lack of communication in the care of their loved ones who lived there. There was a also a lack of testing for COVID in the home, she said.

Jillian M. Siskind and Associates has partnered with national personal injury firm Diamond and Diamond in the class-action lawsuit.

It’s not the first COVID-19-related class-action filing by Diamond and Diamond against a privately-owned provider of senior care services.

Earlier this year, the firm took action against Revera and Sienna Senior Living.

What makes this one unique, according to Darryl Singer, the firm’s head of commercial and civil litigation, is Villa Colombo markets itself as "the heart of the GTA's Italian community.”

Located on 16 acres in Kleinburg, the Vaughan facility houses 160 seniors and describes itself as “cultural sensitive,” founded on the principles of giving back to those who laid the foundation for a vibrant Italian-Canadian culture in the region.

Most families chose Villa Colombo, as opposed to one of the big chains, because of that Italian connection, Singer said.

Singer says the ethnocultural aspect led many families to keep silent. "There is a concern that going against Villa Colombo would be viewed as going against the whole community.”

There is also fear of retribution among those whose families remain in the home, he said.

Gusciglio is the representative plaintiff for residents who died as well as those who remain there still but were unnecessarily exposed to COVID or contracted it and survived -- a class that Singer estimates to be in the hundreds.

As with the lawsuits against other large chains, the allegation is not just that “COVID happened and they didn’t react properly; they were not prepared for any sort of outbreak at all,” Singer said.

“It was a history of neglect, negligence and lack of preparedness that allowed it to spread so rapidly. Yes, they may have been caught off-guard, but they knew their clients are the most vulnerable population.

“When your entire business model is based on serving this particular niche -- elderly, sick, in need of round-the-clock care -- you have to know that outbreaks will occur.”

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege Villa Colombo failed to comply with public health guidelines regarding outbreak planning, supply and access to PPE, resident isolation and testing, staff testing and screening and appropriately restricting visitors.

Vaughan has been one of the hardest hit communities by the virus and this is the second nursing home in that municipality to face a class-action lawsuit. Personal injury law firm Thomson Rogers launched a $15-million class-action lawsuit on behalf of families and residents of Woodbridge Vista Care Community in June.

Singer said long-term care lobbyists have tried to persuade the province to pass legislation protecting them from liability in class-action lawsuits, similar to that in the U.S.

But Singer argues the profitability of the long-term-care industry is not in jeopardy.

“It isn’t the nursing home that’s on the hook for these lawsuits,” she said. “There are very, very large insurance companies behind them.

“The large public companies are making insane profits,” he added, referring to annual reports and public records of nursing home operators revealing that, throughout the pandemic, they continued to pay out massive dividends and bonuses -- at the same time as they claimed publicly they did not have enough money for PPE or increased staff.