Bittersweet Justice:Canada

Occasionally there is justice for those negatively affected by the child welfare and adoption systems. Unfortunately, it is usually bittersweet and much too late. This will serve as REFORM Talk’s justice files.

From Saanich, British Columbia, Canada, a girl known as E.B., who was only 11 weeks old in 2008 when placed with foster parent Micheline Slader, has won a $13 million out of court settlement for the severe brain injuries that she suffered at the hands of Micheline’s boyfriend Avtar Rashi Basi.

The”girl’s law firm should receive $2.4 million in legal fees.

The $13 million deal was reached in December, shortly before a three-month  trial was scheduled to begin in B.C. Supreme Court.

The B.C. government, which was one of the named defendants, funded almost all  of the settlement, with the foster mom’s insurer contributing $1 million and the  boyfriend, who had no assets, nothing.

“The child will require, as the amount of the settlement attests, lifelong  care,” said B.C. Supreme Court Justice Malcolm Macaulay in his reasons for  judgment released Tuesday.

“In fact, the settlement was successfully negotiated on the basis that the  child is entitled to one-to-one care at an annual cost of $250,000.”

The settlement was reached following the aquittal in January 2011 in the  criminal trial of Avtar Rashi Basi, the boyfriend of foster mom Micheline  Slader.

Basi was living in the Slader home at the time but had not been approved by  the Ministry of Children and Family Development as a foster parent or  caregiver.

The girl had been removed from the care of her mother shortly after birth and  placed in Slader’s home.

Basi was accused of violently shaking the then 11-week old girl in November  2008 but a provincial court judge found that while he had caused the injuries,  he was not criminally responsible. He was acquitted of aggravated assault.

Arising from the settlement, the girl’s lawyers sought court approval of $3  million in legal fees.

The Public Guardian and Trustee, a participant in the hearing, argued for a  reduced fee of $2 million.

The judge found that $2.4 million was appropriate, noting that in two of the  cases involving shaken babies, both having settlements of under $5.5 million,  reasonable legal fees were found to be $1.3 million and $1.4 million.

The highest recorded legal fee in a medical malpractice case was $1.8 million  against a settlement of $8.5 million, including costs, the judge noted.

According a letter from the family’s lawyers, quoted by the judge in his  ruling on legal fees, the girl is now being provided with 24-hour nurses care in  a private home, back with her family and guardian.

“She is extremely happy and described by all caregivers as being a happy  child and physicians have described that she has improved since being with  family,” says the letter. “She was overweight when she came to the family; she  is now getting a proper diet and exercise and is a stable weight. Her seizures  are well in control.”

Saanich girl wins $13-million settlement in foster home abuse case

[The Province 8/7/12 by Keith Fraser]

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