Group home charged after drowning death of worker
Man found without vitals in facility’s pool in 2021
Ontario’s Labour Ministry has laid 10 workplace health and safety charges against a Newmarket-area group home related to the sudden death of an employee in February, 2021.
New Leaf Living and Learning Together and two supervisors are charged with failing to take reasonable precautions for the protection of a worker following the death of Ashiru Sarafa Awoyemi.
The news, released Jan. 14, comes almost a year after Awoyemi, 50, a community service worker, drowned while working at the facility in Queensville, East Gwillimbury, north of Newmarket.
Awoyemi, a father of four who was working to bring his family to Canada, was found without vital signs in the facility’s pool Feb. 12.
Sources said the East York man, who could not swim, had taken a client who was acting “agitated” to the residence pool, which was closed due to the pandemic.
In an email Jan. 14, the ministry confirmed four charges were laid against New Leaf, including failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the safety of a worker.
Three charges each were laid against two individuals for failure to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker. The names of the supervisors were not released.
The matter is scheduled for a first appearance in Newmarket courts on Feb. 8. New Leaf did not respond to requests for comment.
The Ministry of Labour ordered the pool closed and it remains closed today, said Michael Bryck, SEIU union representative for New Leaf employees.
Bryck said some managers who were employed at the time of the death are no longer working at New Leaf, but workers there remain concerned about work conditions — in particular about COVID-19 protections and management direction dealing with clients who have potential to be violent.
“The feeling in dealing with the original situation was that that client should never have been alone with a worker,” Bryck said.
Awoyemi, known for his infectious smile and can-do attitude, had been putting in long hours working in the GTA with hopes his wife and young children could join him, said family member Kayode Adesany.
Co-workers welcomed the news New Leaf was being charged, but remain cautious about “next steps” and focused on ensuring Awoyemi’s name is remembered, Bryck said.
“It just breaks my heart,” Bryck said. “I don’t want to be thrilled that these charges happened, because I want Ashiru to still be alive but … it is a good first step.”
SEIU is urging the province to set a “firm example” that tragic incidents like this won’t be tolerated.
News of the court action led to an emotional day for Awoyemi’s coworker, Jack Johnson.
Johnson, who found Awoyemi’s lifeless body in the pool, said charges against New Leaf won’t bring his friend back. “I would like every worker to leave the house to work for the day and feel like he is going to come back safe.”