A family is suing two former health-care aides, a personal-care home and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority for the alleged sexual abuse of their late father almost 18 months after criminal charges were dropped against the workers.
The statement of claim was filed last month by Michael Weinstein and Adam Myers on behalf of Gail Speidel and Cheryl Christine Anne Hedlund in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.
The lawsuit claims the former health-care aides, who the Free Press is not naming due to the nature of the allegations, stripped Ronald Fetterly naked and fondled his genitals during his stay at Extendicare Oakview Place sometime between August 2018 and July 2022.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
Oakview Place, a personal care home run by Extendicare, is being sued by the family of a former resident over sexual assault allegations at the hands of two health-care aides.
The lawsuit is seeking $500,000 in damages for sexual battery and assault, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
The lawsuit claims Extendicare and the WRHA is liable for Fetterly’s treatment as they owe residents of Oakview place a duty of care.
In February 2022, care home staff informed Ontario-based operator Extendicare Inc. as many as 15 Oakview Place residents had been mistreated. The allegations weren’t made public until the WRHA held a news conference in June 2022.
The aides were arrested in September and police alleged at the time the two women used “inappropriate physical actions” to “gain the compliance” of five residents while caring for them between August 2021 and January 2022.
The lawsuit claims in June 2022 Winnipeg police advised Hedlund her father had been a victim of abuse at the hands of the aides. Fetterly, who died in September 2022, had Alzheimer’s disease. He was 88 years old.
The court documents say that on June 28, 2022, Hedlund received a letter from the province’s Protection for Persons in Care Office saying an investigation into abuse allegations involving her father was underway at Oakview Place.
The lawsuit says an initial investigation by the provincial office found Extendicare employees had been found sleeping on the couch in Fetterly’s room and two employees had stripped the resident naked and “proceeded to fondle his genitals.”
The employees also called Fetterly “Mr. Wiggles,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The actions of the Defendants were egregious, malicious, high-handed, done with an intention to harm, and were a marked departure from the standards of decent behaviour,” the lawsuit states. “The Defendants’ conduct was not only tortious, but criminal, and showed a complete disregard for Mr. Fetterly’s safety and well-being.”
“The actions of the Defendants were egregious, malicious, high-handed, done with an intention to harm, and were a marked departure from the standards of decent behaviour.”–Statement of claim
Hedlund claims she previously met with Extendicare representatives, who said the involved employees and management had either been fired or quit.
“At the meeting, Ms. Hedlund raised the allegations… but Extendicare’s representatives were not transparent,” the claim alleges.
The accused were originally each charged with five counts of assault, with prosecutors ultimately authorizing one assault charge for each woman. The charges were dropped against the two women in May 2023 owing to the unlikelihood of conviction.
A Manitoba auditor general’s report released last year found the Protection for Persons in Care Office had dismissed several allegations of sexual assault and physical and verbal abuse at personal-care homes as “unfounded,” saying they didn’t meet its definition of abuse.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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