Guilty plea opens door to civil lawsuit in daycare death

A guilty plea in the 2013 death of a two-year-old girl at an illegal Vaughan daycare means a civil lawsuit against the facility operators and the Ministry of Education can now proceed, says Toronto personal injury lawyer Patrick Brown.

Olena Panfilova has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing the death of Eva Ravikovich, admitting in an agreed statement of facts that she forgot she left the child in a hot vehicle for several hours.

“The facts describe an unimaginable and horrifying sequence of events that took Eva’s life,” says Brown, partner with McLeish Orlando LLP, who is representing the Ravikovich family in the civil lawsuit. “The court will decide what sentence is appropriate in this situation.”

Sentencing is expected to take place May 19, 2017 in Newmarket court.

Operating without a licence

Brown says the Ministry of Education had “full knowledge” of the overcrowded illegal daycare, which was operating without a licence. According to the statement of facts, ministry officials attended the home and followed up with a warning letter in 2012.

Officials “did not take appropriate steps to investigate it or shut it down,” says Brown.

“They received multiple complaints it was ani llegally operated facility. It was not until Eva died at the daycare that they finally brought an injunction to shut the operation down,” he says.

“It shouldn’t have taken the death of a child for the government to step into action. This is not the standard that we should expect in Ontario.”

On the day of Eva’s death, the daycare operator, which offered a pickup and drop-off service, arrived home with a number of small children in her SUV, according to the statement of facts.

“Olena Panfilova removed all of the children she could from the passenger side of the vehicle and closed the door, leaving only Eva in the vehicle. Olena never returned to get Eva out of her vehicle,” the statement says.

Court documents show that on that hot summer day, Panfilova had 35 children in her care, including 21 who were aged three or younger. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that Panfilova realized she had forgotten to getEva from the vehicle. When she found her, the child had died of heat stroke.

According to the statement,Panfilova’s daughter called 911 and said: “We’re taking care of a kid and — I think she’s dead. We put her down for a nap. We went to wake her up and she’s not breathing and she’s like all … purple.”

Charged with manslaughter

Panfilova was charged with manslaughter in March 2016. As well, Panfilova, her husband and daughter were sentenced to 30 days in jail for running an overcrowded illegal daycare.

The daycare was shut down when authorities found dangerous bacteria and dirty conditions in the home, the Star reports. When police were called to the sceneon the day of Eva’s death, there were also more than a dozen dogs on the property.

Although provincial officials have spoken about a “clear non-compliance with ministry policy,” the government unsuccessfully moved before the court to have the case against it dismissed, Brown says. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice denied the ministry’s request and held that the case against it should proceed to trial.

“The family looks forward to finding closure and a just conclusion to both the criminal and civil proceedings,” Brown says.

READ Toronto Star, Canadian Press, Global News.