Two lawsuits against health authorities over Seven Oaks stabbing

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This article was published 30/10/2023 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Seven Oaks General Hospital nursing supervisor, who was stabbed by a man later found not criminally responsible for a series of attacks, and another hospital employee are suing Shared Health and two other health bodies, claiming the authorities failed to prevent the violence.

The lawsuits were filed separately Oct. 27 in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench by law firm Tapper Cuddy LLP on behalf of Candyce Szkwarek and Lori Schellenberg, respectively.

They come after the siblings of Trevor Farley, 39, filed a lawsuit last week over the same health authorities’ alleged failures to provide Farley with mental health care that may have prevented him from killing his parents and stabbing Szkwarek, 67.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Winnipeg-Churchill health region were also named as defendants in the new lawsuits. The new legal claims rely on similar facts as the suit filed by Russell and Paul Farley and Sharon MacLeod.

Earlier this month, King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne found Trevor Farley not criminally responsible for the Oct. 27, 2021, fatal attacks on his parents — Judy Swain and Stuart Farley — and for stabbing Szkwarek the same day.

He was also deemed a high-risk offender by the court.

The two Seven Oaks staffers are seeking general damages for their injuries, special damages, damages for lost income, punitive damages and court costs. There’s no dollar figure included in the claims.

Schellenberg, 47, worked as renal services manager at Seven Oaks and responded to the scene of Farley’s attack on Szkwarek and helped to assess and medically stabilize those present, according to her lawsuit.

As a manager, Schellenberg’s lawsuit says, she provided crisis management to staff and bystanders and stayed at the scene to support staff as they were interviewed by Winnipeg police. She soon began to suffer mentally from what she witnessed and she has not been able to work since December 2021 as a result, the lawsuit says.

Szkwarek, who was repeatedly stabbed, has lasting physical and psychological damage from the attack, her lawsuit claims, and has been unable to work.

Farley, a former Seven Oaks nurse, had visited the Crisis Response Centre at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg the night before the attacks, the new lawsuits say, where he was assessed by a clinician between 12:24 and 1:30 a.m.

Farley was reportedly experiencing delusions, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. He was assessed by a physician assistant just before 9 a.m. and a “decision was made” to apply for him to undergo an involuntary psychiatric assessment.

A physician then filled out a “Form 4” document, noting Farley was suffering from a mental disorder and posed a risk of physical harm to himself or others. In the opinion of the physician, Farley was unwilling or unable to consent to voluntary psychiatric examination.

Once the form is approved, the subject is to be transferred to an in-patient psychiatric ward. If the person is deemed at risk of harming themselves or others, they are to be moved to a locked, secure room of the Crisis Response Centre under constant supervision, the lawsuits claim.

Despite those protocols, Farley walked out about three hours after he was seen by the physician’s assistant. Centre staff called 911.

Farley killed his father in Winnipeg, his mother in New Bothwell, then drove to the Garden City area hospital, where he assaulted Szkwarek in the building atrium.

The two most recent lawsuits allege health authorities breached their duty to the plaintiffs by failing to secure Farley and prevent him from leaving the crisis centre, and failing to use proper procedures and train staff to deal with a person subject to a Form 4.

Shared Health and WRHA would not comment on the lawsuits Monday, citing the court process. None of the health bodies have filed statements of defence.

A WRHA spokesperson said it made additional support staff available at Seven Oaks beginning in early October, in anticipation of the court case and renewed attention it would bring. The spokesperson said the WRHA also held a virtual session on mental wellness, on top of standard supports through staff benefits and employment assistance.

Dr. Ken Hahlweg witnessed the attack on Szkwarek and intervened, tackling Farley and chasing the man as he fled outside, where he was arrested by police.

On Monday, the doctor told the Free Press he has no intention of pursuing any similar legal action.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca