In the News June 17
Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in the Public Sector!
What the Privatization of the Work of
Civil Servants Looks Like
Recent reports provide information which clearly reveals what the privatization of the work of the civil service looks like. What the reports do not tell is that the public civil service has all but been destroyed as a result of pay-the-rich schemes which contract out the work of the civil service to narrow private interests that take up no social responsibility while the government also washes its hands of the consequences of irresponsible work.
Recent reports relate to a private company called Epiq Class Action Services Canada which is involved in serious privacy breaches. Epiq was appointed by the Federal Court “to administer the settlement process after the government reached an agreement in November 2019 with plaintiffs in three overlapping class-action lawsuits dealing with sexual misconduct in the military,” Lee Berthiaume writes for Canadian Press (CP). It is a $900-million settlement deal “with military members who experienced sexual misconduct in uniform.”
“Class Action Services Canada confirmed the additional errors after a third veteran came forward to The Canadian Press to report having received an email containing the personal details of a different claimant earlier this month,” Berthiaume reports. Epiq “is admitting to more privacy breaches, despite repeated promises to have fixed the problem,” Berthiaume says. Nearly 20,000 people have applied for compensation as part of the class-action settlement, he informs.
It raises a serious question of just who this Epiq is, why the Federal Court is dealing with such a company and where is the federal government taking responsibility in all of this? It appears neither the Federal Court nor the federal government are to be found despite the fact that they were behind the handing out of the contract in the first place.
It also turns out there is nothing Canadian about Epiq Class Action Services Canada whose promo site has an official federal government look about it. The promo material says:
“Crawford Class Action Services, Bruneau Group Inc. and Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, are now one.
“The combination of companies, now called Epiq creates a Canadian legal settlement administrator that delivers a robust base of expertise, capabilities, and services that are unmatched in Canada.”
“We know you rely upon the Crawford Class Action Services and Bruneau Group for our Canadian heritage and understanding, and that is not changing. Partnering with Epiq delivers significant benefits to you, including a broadened range of technology-enabled solutions and services, a deeper bench of cross-border expertise, and most importantly, bolstered capacity to handle projects of any size or scope in Canada.”
The government of Canada has so many “legal settlements,” it boggles the imagination to think how much a company like Epiq must be getting in fees.
The promo says: “With decades of experience administering some of the largest and most complex class action settlements, Epiq is uniquely situated to ensure a seamless, on-time and on-budget administration in Canada.”
Who decides to hire them and who sets the budget to administer the payout of $900 million?
Nothing is said about this.
Lee Berthiaume’s report continues:
“The veteran, who asked not to be identified because she still works for the federal government, said the information was contained in an attachment as she was fighting Epiq after the company sent her settlement cheque to the wrong address.
“I feel betrayed and worried that my personal information has been sent to other members,” the veteran said. “I submitted over 180 pages of documents and I’m sick with worry that someone has my information. It’s victimizing all over.”
The CP reports says that “Epiq has previously said the inadvertently released information does not include testimonials and other such documents, but only claimants’ names, contact details and randomly generated claim numbers.
“It has nonetheless apologized for the errors since the first was reported in March, and repeatedly promised that it was taking the appropriate disciplinary and procedural steps to ensure more claimants are not affected.”
Such apologies are a dime a dozen nowadays. Why does it become a matter of a relationship between individuals who are being revictimized and a global company whose resources are beyond imagination? Who decided that a lame apology makes the issue go away?
None of this is raised by the federal government or the Federal Court which assigned Epiq in the first place. It is possible there is nothing in any law which stipulates that the company should pay reparations for those it has revictimized who do not even know if the company is telling the truth about the extent of the leaks, harmful enough as they are. It may even be considered extremist to raise the idea that Epiq, the federal government and the Federal Court are responsible or that a public system should be put in place which makes them accountable.
The fact remains that whether this is recognized in law or not, they are responsible and they should be held to account. Redress without compensation is meaningless. Epiq should pay damages and be fired based on a reliable non-partisan public investigation.
Is this what is taking place? No! Berthiaume writes:
“The leaks also prompted a panel of claimants, lawyers and government officials tasked with overseeing the settlement to order an independent audit of Epiq’s claims process to prevent further problems.”
Why is this reduced to “further problems”? The insult has already been added to the original injury. That will not go away under the guise that NOW the authorities are doing their job. They should all be held to account and fired.
Berthiaume writes: “The company has since retained an external auditor to review and recommend changes to its procedures, Epiq vice-president Angela Hoidas said in an email, adding: “We sincerely regret these additional disclosures. “While inadvertent human errors have affected a small fraction of the claims we have successfully administered in this class, we believe that any inadvertent error is unacceptable, and have already taken substantial steps to improve our policies and procedures.”
This idea that parties which have a vested interest can self-regulate is fundamentally flawed, untrustworthy and unacceptable. It goes to the heart of what permitting them to act with impunity means.
Berthiaume reports further: “Lawyer Jonathan Ptak, who represents some of the veterans and active service members involved in the three lawsuits settled by the government, said the audit has started. Yet neither Epiq’s promises to address the problem nor the decision to order an audit stopped the latest breach, which according to a statement on Epiq’s website brings the total number of claimants whose private information has been compromised to 109.
“While Epiq has not revealed the total number of actual incidents in which a breach has occurred, Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said the company has reported 20 individual breaches since February 8.
“That includes 15 previously unreported incidents discovered by the company during an internal review in late February.
“National Defence takes the issue of privacy very seriously,” Lamirande said in an email. “We have requested that Epiq investigate and take steps to ensure that this matter is contained, resolved, and does not happen again.”
Canadians know the ruling elite take the issue of privacy very seriously. They have put a system in place which erects a wall of silence around the crimes and the criminals so that they are untouchable. But leaks and counter-leaks always thwart their hopes to keep these things under wraps. Most important of all is the resistance movement — the expressed opposition to what is not acceptable so that those who benefit from the state of affairs are held to account. In this regard, victims of sexual abuse in the military are speaking out.
Berthiaume reports: “Retired master corporal Amy Green and fellow veteran France Menard said they have not heard anything more from the company, government or law firms involved in the settlement since receiving private information about other claimants from Epiq earlier this year.
“It’s disappointing, that’s for sure,” Menard said. “They’re trying to put everything under the rug.”
“The veteran who most recently received another claimant’s information said she and others had already been having problems with Epiq even before the privacy breaches, including incorrect information and settlement payments sent to the wrong addresses.
“The information sent to Menard and Green consists of the names of individual claimants as well as their claim numbers, which can be used to submit documents through a secure link on the class-action website.
“Hoidas has said such documents would then be reviewed by Epiq, and that individual files cannot be accessed, but Menard and Green say they are unsatisfied with Epiq’s response, particularly given the sensitive nature of the claims and settlement deal.
“While the office of the privacy commissioner said in March that it was looking into the issue after receiving a privacy breach report from Epiq, spokesman Vito Pilieci said there was no update to the watchdog’s probe.”
Enough! No Means No!
(Based on a Canadian Press report published June 15, 2022.)
TML Daily, posted June 17, 2022.
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