Racism focus of Sinclair suit

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This article was published 06/05/2015 (3814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial inquest didn’t examine whether issues of racism contributed to Brian Sinclair’s death, but a lawsuit will.

Vilko Zbogar, one of the lawyers representing the Sinclair family, said they hope it means people will be held responsible for his death.

The lawsuit seeks $1.1 million in general, aggravated, special and Charter of Rights and Freedoms damages, including $340,000 for pain and suffering before Sinclair died, $500,000 for punitive damages and $10,000 for violations of his privacy.

Zbogar said now that the Manitoba Court of Appeal has given the green light for the lawsuit to go ahead — after ruling unanimously it can continue even though Sinclair is dead — issues not dealt with at the months-long inquest can be heard.

“There’s a lot the inquest report left out,” Zbogar said Tuesday after the release of the 44-page Appeal Court decision. “Stereotypes and racism were left out. It didn’t make findings of accountability.

“These are areas the family wants to pursue.”

Zbogar said he’s pleased the Appeal Court sided with their arguments and didn’t agree with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s argument the lawsuit died with Sinclair because “the conduct of the state is the very thing that caused the death.”

“You can’t say, in a sense, that because you were successful in killing a person you can’t sue.”

Robert Sinclair, a family spokesman, said in a statement “It is not OK for health workers to ignore a person in distress based on false, racist assumptions.”

“We will not stop seeking vindication for Brian Sinclair and to hold hospital authorities accountable for their shameful conduct both before and after his death. We are grateful that the courts will now allow us to do that.”

Brian Sinclair, a 45-year-old double amputee who used a wheelchair, died on Sept. 21, 2008. He had spent 34 hours in the waiting area of Health Sciences Centre’s emergency department and had been sent there by taxi from a medical clinic. He had a suspected blocked urinary catheter.

‘There’s a lot the inquest report left out. Stereotypes and racism were left out. It didn’t make findings of accountability.

These are areas the family wants to pursue’

— Vilko Zbogar, lawyer for the relatives of Brian Sinclair

An autopsy determined Sinclair died of a treatable bladder infection caused by the blocked catheter.

Zbogar said the WRHA and the provincial government could appeal the unanimous decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, “but they would need strong grounds to do it.”

Zbogar said he can’t believe it has taken so long to reach this ruling. The lawsuit was filed in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench in 2010.

“It’s a little frustrating things take so long on something we thought was a basic important principle: the right to sue,” he said.

The province has already paid out $110,000 under the Fatal Accidents Act.

A spokeswoman for provincial Health Minister Sharon Blady said she can’t comment while the matter is before the courts.

A spokeswoman for the WRHA said they received the Court of Appeal decision Monday.

“We are reviewing the decision and assessing our options,” the spokeswoman said.

‘I reject the idea that it is a foregone conclusion that the charter should be read to not allow for any litigation where the breach of the charter allegedly contributed to a death’

— Justice Chris Mainella

Emily Hill, a lawyer with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, which participated in the inquest until the judge ruled it would not look into issues of racism, said they have “always agreed with the Sinclair family that Brian Sinclair’s death raises serious concerns about systemic discrimination in the health-care system.”

“We admire the family’s persistence in ensuring that these issues are fully explored.”

In the Appeal Court decision, Justice Chris Mainella, who dealt with the charter side of the decision, said Sinclair’s sister, Esther Joyce Grant, who is the administrator of her brother’s estate, should be allowed to continue the lawsuit for the deceased man.

“I reject the idea that it is a foregone conclusion that the charter should be read to not allow for any litigation where the breach of the charter allegedly contributed to a death,” Mainella said.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca