The sister of a 43-year-old woman who died 16 days after an altercation with security at a downtown Toronto hospital has filed a $16 million lawsuit against University Health Network and the security guards allegedly involved in her death, alleging that used “excessive” and “unreasonable” force.
Stephanie Warriner, a mother of five from Scarborough, died on May 27, 2020 at Toronto Western Hospital after reportedly going into medical stress and going into cardiac arrest following a physical interaction with hospital security.
The initial incident occurred on May 11, 2020 at Toronto General Hospital (TGH). According to the victim’s sister, Denise Warriner, Stephanie left her room and went to the hospital lobby in search of something to eat, where she subsequently got into a confrontation with security because she was not wearing a face mask.
The lawsuit claims the guards ‘knew or should have known’ that Stephanie suffered from mental health issues based on their interactions with her.’
However, the documents allege the guards approached her in an “aggressive manner contrary to their training” and “acted with reckless disregard for Stephanie’s life.”
They also state that the guards initially got into a “verbal altercation” with Stephanie, but eventually pushed her against a wall and threw her to the ground before restraining her in a “prone position with a weight applied to her back.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
“After the guards took their weight off of Stephanie, her body was limp and lifeless. Instead of immediately beginning CPR or calling for help, security instead brought out a wheelchair and placed Stephanie’s lifeless body in the wheelchair to remove her from the view of security cameras and witnesses,” the documents state.
Five guards named in the lawsuit
The lawsuit names five security guards who were allegedly involved in the incident, including one who reportedly moved a security camera so that part of the altercation was not captured.
Two of the guards, Amanda Rojas-Silva, 42, and Shane Hutley, 35, were previously charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence by unlawful restraint/restraint causing death in connection with the incident.
But the charges against them were dropped in November after Superior Court Judge Sean Dunphy dismissed the case for lack of “admissible evidence to support the findings necessary to issue an arrest warrant on each count.”
News of this legal action comes a week after CTV News obtained video footage of portions of the altercation.
Speaking to CP24.com on Wednesday, Denise Warriner said that while the lawsuit won’t bring her sister back, it could allow those who loved her, including her 28-year-old son Theodore, to receive some responsibility for what she said it was “extreme and outrageous behaviour” on the part of those involved.
“It is a moral duty to act. I cannot live without doing anything, not only for my sister but for all of us,” she said.
“The systems have proven that we cannot expect them to be held accountable. … I recognize that they will not be fundamentally changed unless there is debt.”
Warriner said the trauma her family had suffered as a result of the incident was “indescribable” and was an “ongoing grief” that “never ends”.
She said by starting the case, she wants to make sure other families don’t have to go through what hers did.
“I will not let any other family go through this as much as I can,” she vowed.
The $16 million civil suit against UHN and members of its security team began last September, but the defendants were only recently served.
All those named have not yet filed a statement of defense but have filed notices of intent to defend, Amanda Micallef of Falconers LLP, who represents the Warriner family in the suit, told CP24.com.
In a statement provided to CP24.com, the University Health Network said it would not comment on “litigation matters or matters related to individual employment or discipline.”
Attorney Simon Clements, who represents Rojas-Silva and Huntley, similarly told CP24.com that his clients had no comment “as this is an ongoing legal proceeding.”
We have reached out to the attorneys for the other defendants named in the lawsuit, but have not yet heard back.
With files from Alex Arsenich of CTV News Toronto.
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