THUNDER BAY — The province has fined Dilico Anishinabek Family Care under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In a release issued Monday, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development stated that Dilico failed as an employer when it came to assessing the risk of workplace violence and subsequently charged an $80,000 fine.
The incident originally occurred in May 2022 at a group home. A client resident was in an office speaking with the manager and became verbally aggressive and assaulted the manager. Another staff member was present and tried to use verbal de-escalation strategies, though were unsuccessful.
After a third employee entered the office, they were able to remove the angry client from the manager and were also assaulted.
The manager and first staff member were then able to leave the room and shut the door behind them to contain the resident.
Paramedics were called to the group home, and the individual left the group home through a window.
During the province's investigation, they discovered that Dilico has a written workplace violence policy and program, but it doesn't apply to workplace violence involving clients, according to their release.
The Ministry of Labour also discovered that the group home was not assessed for workplace violence risks. Dilico pleaded guilty to its charges.
The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
