St. John’s lawyer, Bob Buckingham, one of the lead counsel, along with Mr. Eli Baker, representing individuals whose personal, private healthcare information was breached by Central Regional Health Authority employee recently announced that the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court has certified the class action against the Central Regional Health Authority.

On February 28, 2024 the Supreme Court certified the class action lawsuit against the Central Regional Health Authority. The class action is on behalf of a proposed class of 260 individuals.

“This is a major step forward in this class action process. The Statement of Claim was filed in February 2021. The certification hearing was heard in October 2023. This decision means the legal team will focus its energies on moving the matter to conclusion as quickly as possible.” said Mr. Buckingham.

“Our clients have been quite anxious and interested in this process and we are pleased to provide them with this information on the Court’s decision.”

“The Supreme Court Trial Division certification clears the way for the Court to consider the merits of our clients’ claims on behalf of the entire class of people whose privacy was breached by employees of the Defendant. The class consists of Central Health patients who received a letter, dated August 4, 2020, advising their records which contained confidential medical records and personal health information, were inappropriately accessed by an employee. Those privacy breaches occurred between October 2018 and July 2020. As well, the class consists of an additional twenty patients who were similarly affected by a Central Health employee which Central Health acknowledged on January 28, 2021.”, said Mr. Buckingham.

“We encourage any of those people to register with us by visiting our website and following the link found on our website.”, said Mr. Buckingham.