A class-action lawsuit against NL Fertility Services and the provincial health authority has been filed with the Supreme Court.

It involves a major privacy breach, which NL Health Services first revealed in July of 2023.

It happened when an email was sent to 116 people who had availed of a provincial subsidy to travel out of the province for fertility services. However, the recipients were not blind copied, meaning everyone could see who else was on the list.

Lawyer Bob Buckingham, who first launched the lawsuit last year, says those affected described the breach as “devastating” and that they felt “violated.”

He notes while some were open and public about their efforts to conceive, many preferred and expected their involvement to remain private and confidential.

Information on the suit can be found here.