2017 01G 2568 CP
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR - GENERAL DIVISION

BETWEEN:

Jane Doe (#7), John Doe (#9) (Discontinued)
John Doe (#10) and John Doe (#11)

Plaintiffs

and:

His Majesty in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador

Defendant

Brought under the Class Actions Act, S.N.L. 2001, c. C-18.1

Institutional Class Action - Whitbourne, Pleasantville Training Schools & St. John’s Youth Centre Sexual Abuse Class Action Settlement

This website was updated February 15, 2024

The Claims Bar Deadline was February 9, 2024. No new Claims Forms will be accepted.

If you have already filed your Claim Form, no further action is required.

The Claims Administrator continued to receive Claim Forms at the Claims Bar Deadline on February 9, 2024. Hence, the Claims Administrator continues to adjudicate the most recently received Claim Forms and the Abuse Claims Reviewer (“ACR”) is still scheduling and conducting the required interviews.

Therefore, it is still too early to calculate an approved Abuse Claimant's full Distribution payment. We must wait until all Abuse Claims are processed, adjudicated and points are allocated to each approved Abuse Claimant. Once this process is complete, the Claims Administrator will determine the total points in aggregate to calculate the total dollar amount to be paid out of the Net Settlement Fund to each Abuse Claimant.

We must provide due diligence to all Class Members and treat all Abuse Claimants equally.

Summary of Claims Administration Process and Timeline for Distributions

Supplementary Evidence

Any Abuse Claimant who wishes to supplement the information provided in the Claim Form shall do so within 60 days of the date upon which the Abuse Claim was submitted. Thereafter, the Claims Administrator and the ACR shall not consider any further information supplied by the Abuse Claimant unless the Claims Administrator or the ACR, in their discretion, grants an extension of time on a showing of good cause by the Abuse Claimant.

Supplementary Evidence may be submitted by one of the following methods:

  1. Email at: ;
  2. Fax at: 416-342-1761
  3. Purolator Courier (Prepaid): please email us for individualized prepaid courier label.
  4. Mail: (not the most secure nor confidential – please take advantage of the prepaid Purolator courier)

Trilogy Class Action Services
117 Queen St, P.O. Box 1000,
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON,
L0S 1J0

REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION AND APPEAL

The Claims Administrator shall provide notice on a rolling basis to Abuse Claimants as their Abuse Claims are allotted points. If the Administrator or the ACR concludes that the Abuse Claimant is not a Class Member, no points shall be allotted to the Abuse Claim and the Abuse Claimant shall receive no portion of the Net Settlement Funds.

There shall be no reconsideration of the points allotted to a Track 1 Abuse Claim.

The points allotted to a Track 2 Abuse Claim in the notice from the Claims Administrator shall be final 30 days after receipt of the notice unless the Abuse Claimant writes to the Claims Administrator to request reconsideration.

The Claims Administrator will consider the request for reconsideration and any accompanying documents and determine the allotment of points to the Abuse Claim. The Claims Administrator’s determination of the request for reconsideration shall be final and it shall not be subject to any further reconsideration, review, or appeal.

The right to submit Supplementary Evidence and the Appeals process will take a minimum of 90 days from the Claims Bar Deadline of February 9, 2024.

Distribution of Trust Funds

Within 60 days of determining the last of the Abuse Claims and any requests for reconsideration, the Claims Administrator shall prepare a report on the distribution of the Net Settlement Funds, which will be provided to the parties and filed with the Court. Upon filing its report with the Court, the Claims Administrator shall pay any remaining portion of the Net Settlement Funds in accordance with the Settlement Agreement.

Allocation of Points assigned to Claims

Track 1 and Track 1 A (Estates) Claim Forms are assigned 10 points, and do not require an interview.

Track 2 Claim Forms are forwarded to the ACR to complete the adjudication process. If the ACR decides an interview is required, the ACR will contact the Abuse Claimant directly.

The ACR will assign a set number of points to the Claim once the ACR has completed the interview and adjudication process. Assigned points will not be discussed over the phone until after Abuse Claimant receives their Claim Determination Notice.

The Claims Administrator will prepare a Claim Determination Notice with regards to the status of their Claim and Abuse Claimants will be notified by mail and/or courier once the verification of Eligibility is complete as follows:

  • Confirmation that the Abuse Claimant is not an Excluded Person;
  • Confirmation that the Abuse Claimant was ordinarily resident in Newfoundland and Labrador as of the date of the Certification Order and did not opt-out of the class proceeding; or the Abuse Claimant was not ordinarily resident in Newfoundland and Labrador as of the date of the Certification Order but opted-in to the class proceeding; and
  • Confirmation that the Abuse Claimant claims to have suffered Sexual Abuse perpetrated by a Delegate or another resident of an Institution while the Abuse Claimant was resident or otherwise attending an Institution during the Class Period.

Point Value Calculation

Where the Claims Administrator determines that a Track 1 Abuse Claimant is a Class Member, it shall allot 10 points to the Abuse Claim. The ACR will determine the point allotment for each Track 2A and 2B Abuse Claimant in accordance with section 7.3.2. Each point will be valued at $5,000, subject to the pro rata reduction described in section 7.4.2. An Abuse Claim that is allotted the maximum of 100 points will be valued at $500,000, subject to the pro rata reduction described in section 7.4.2. No Abuse Claim shall be valued at more than $500,000, all inclusive.

Pro Rata Point Reduction

The value of each point shall be reduced pro rata in the event that the Net Settlement Funds are insufficient to pay $5,000 per point. In that case, the value of each point will be determined by dividing the Net Settlement Funds by the number of points that have been allotted to the Class. For example, if the Net Settlement Funds are $8 million and the Class has been allotted 4,000 points in the aggregate, each point would be valued at $2,000 rather than $5,000.

Once eligibility has been confirmed, Trilogy Class Action Services will send out the Claim Determination Notice to the Abuse Claimant by the courier available in their local area (Purolator or Canada Post).

Abuse Claimants using a P.O. Box

Claim Determination Notices will be delivered through Canada Post, regardless of Purolator services being available in your area. Purolator is unable to deliver to a P.O. Box as a signature is required. Should you prefer your Claim Determination Notice be sent via Purolator, please contact us with a physical street address to use, instead of the P.O. Box provided on your Claim Form.

Please note that Claim Determination Notices are being sent by Purolator and/or Canada Post Express Post on a continuous basis. We have experienced delays with some deliveries due to weather or remoteness of locations. Please be assured that we are committed to Claimants receiving their Claim Determination Notices in a timely manner.

The staff at Trilogy Class Action Services and the Abuse Claims Reviewer (“ACR”) understand that the Claims process may be extremely overwhelming and stressful. We are here to help. You may call Trilogy Class Action Services (Sarah Lockie) or the Abuse Claims Reviewer (Rhonda Fiander) at 1-877-400-1211 for assistance.


How do I get more information?

We are here to help! If you have any questions or require further information about this class action, please complete this form and submit. We will respond within 24 to 48 hours.

Please see the contact page of this website for contact information for Class Counsel.

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