NYC Legionnaires outbreak may have killed up to 20, lawyers say

New York City's Harlem Legionnaires outbreak may have killed up to 20 people, according to lawyers representing four families who filed notices of claim this week. The figure, if confirmed, would far exceed the state’s official death toll and add pressure on city officials amid a string of lawsuits tied to four construction sites owned by the city. Lawyers say many victims were misdiagnosed with pneumonia and not tested for Legionnaires’ disease, a pattern they say may have suppressed the true toll.

Nearly 20 notices of claim have been filed against the city, seeking potential liability up to $210 million, tied to outbreaks at four city projects. The claims also include at least four wrongful-death suits, with more expected as families pursue accountability for what they describe as a preventable outbreak.

Bruce Scott, 53, died after falling ill during the outbreak, leaving his widow Lakisha Plowden and their six-year-old daughter Brooke to grieve. Plowden recalled that her husband "walked out the door into the ambulance — and never came back," and said, "He was a good man. He was a great dad." She added that her daughter cannot comprehend why her father is not there and said, "My daughter needs to understand why her dad is not here." In another case, Nikia Bryant said her aunt Rachel Tew, 80, died in early August, and it took the city a week to inform her the death was from Legionnaires. "I had to fight and fight and fight to get my mom tested," Gloria Cooley said of her mother, June, who suffered two weeks in a hospital before testing was finally conducted.

Crump and Sharpton said the outbreak has claimed lives and that deaths are being undercounted. "They continue to come up with ways to try to sweep it under the rug," Crump said. "If they can get away with it here, they can get away with it elsewhere," he added. "How many people did they not test for Legionnaires’ disease that could have been saved?" Sharpton asked.

Legionella bacteria was found on cooling towers on top of Harlem Hospital, investigators said, a finding that linked the outbreak to the towers at the facility.

A third lawsuit has been filed against Skanska USA, the contractor for the city projects, by a worker who says he became ill while working at the New York City Public Health Laboratory site adjacent to Harlem Hospital. Attorney Jarred Scotto said the city and its contractor failed to check and maintain cooling towers and that Skanska failed to register a newly installed tower at Harlem Hospital. "Legionella is a predictable and foreseeable harm if those cooling towers aren’t tested and cleaned on a regular basis," Scotto said. "We really want to know what else wasn’t done."

A Skanska representative said, "Our hearts go out to all the families who have been impacted in this recent Legionnaires outbreak," and declined to comment further on pending litigation.

Sharpton also called on the mayoral candidates to take the issue seriously and to make it part of their campaign. "They all come here asking for support," Sharpton said. "I’m asking for support for these families."

The city’s cooling towers were identified as a likely source, and the outbreak has renewed scrutiny of maintenance standards and testing requirements for the facilities tied to Harlem hospitals and other city sites. Investigators and lawmakers have pledged to review whether testing and reporting timelines met public-health obligations.

As the legal process unfolds, officials say they will continue to examine maintenance records, cooling-tower registrations, and testing results to determine whether lapses contributed to the spread of Legionella and to assess the scope of any potential liability.

Public health and city officials have not provided a final tally of deaths or confirmed the legal quantities of the claims, but the proceedings underscore a broader debate over building-maintenance standards and public-health protections in dense urban settings.