In a class action against a long-term care home regarding a COVID-19 outbreak, the parties agreed on the terms of a certification order except for the temporal scope of discovery regarding infection prevention and control (IPAC).
The defendants sought to limit questions to the three weeks prior to the first outbreak, while the plaintiff sought an undefined period leading up to the outbreak.
The court adopted the plaintiff's flexible approach, holding that the relevance of IPAC matters preceding the outbreak must be assessed on a question-by-question basis during discoveries.