Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
In a week of mounting temperatures and National Weather Service heat advisories throughout Miami, the City of Hialeah closed its three remaining public swimming pools following Florida Health Department findings.
The city’s Bucky Dent Water Park, which reopened in July after a year-long closure, once again closed following an incident involving an 80-year-old man who had a medical emergency while in a pool. It was later revealed that the facilities were operating without proper permits and that there was a problem with equipment at the water park, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
Outside of that, the three pools — McDonald Pool, Milander Pool and Babcock Pool — will temporarily close after several violations were found. A pool with no chlorine, broken safety equipment, and other potential hazards are among the contraventions found by inspectors on the properties.
City officials said they will bring an independent health and safety expert to conduct an investigation and come up with an action plan to evaluate “what corrective measures are needed,” The Herald reported.
In Florida, public swimming pools must undergo proper sanitation and fall in line with water-quality requirements that are enforced by the FDOH. This means that pool operators must maintain the water within a prescribed chemical and sanitary parameters and have proper testing equipment on site to test and record pH and disinfectant levels. These requirements are particularly important for reducing the risk of waterborne pathogens, including Legionella, a bacterium that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia, when people inhale water droplets containing the bacteria.
Leesfield & Partners, a personal injury law firm with five decades of experience representing tourists and locals alike, has extensive experience dealing with Legionnaires’ disease cases.
Leesfield & Partners
For 50 years, Leesfield & Partners has diligently represented countless clients in Legionnaires’ disease cases against hotels, property management companies, resorts, pool maintenance companies, and other entities. This landmark result reflects the firm’s unwavering commitment to securing accountability for injured clients and their grieving families.
Legionnaires’ Disease was first identified in 1976 following an outbreak of pneumonia in Philadelphia at a convention for the American Legion, according to the FDOH. More than 200 people became ill and at least 34 people died as a result of being exposed to the Legionella bacteria. The suspected source in that instance was likely the hotel’s air conditioning cooling towers.
There are 8,000 to 18,000 confirmed hospitalizations due to Legionnaires’ disease every year in the U.S. The latest available data in Florida shows the rate of Legionnaires’ Disease to be 2.4 per every 10,000 people, according to the FDOH. In 2020, the state accounted for nearly 60% of reported Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in the United States and 38% of outbreaks in health care facilities around the country, according to reporting from the Tampa Bay Times. In 2024, the newspaper reported that cases of the disease were rising, particularly in Florida health care facilities.
While this dangerous bacterium continues to thrive in medical facilities, hotels, resorts, and other properties that fail to properly maintain their water systems, Leesfield & Partners remains steadfast in promoting awareness and holding negligent entities accountable.
Last year, Trial Attorney Eric Shane secured what is believed to be the largest recovery for a single Legionnaires’ disease victim in U.S. history when he represented the family of a Legionnaires’ victim who was fatally exposed to the bacteria while using the hot tub at a Florida condominium community. No water management plan was in place to regularly test or properly sanitize the condominium’s water systems.
“This was a heartbreaking case because it never should have happened,” Mr. Shane said. “Legionnaires’ disease is entirely preventable when hotels and condominiums follow proper maintenance and safety protocols. This is especially true when the source of the bacteria is from a hot tub. No family should have to lose a loved one the way this family did.”
Previous Legionnaires’ Disease Cases
Mr. Shane previously settled a Legionnaires’ Disease case that resulted in a $500,000 settlement after a condominium resident contracted the disease following use of the community’s hot tub.
In another Legionnaires’ Disease case, also handled by Mr. Shane, a woman was exposed to the bacteria at a Florida hotel. Throughout her stay, our client regularly used a hot tub on the property. On the same day as checkout, the woman began experiencing symptoms such as swelling and fever. After doctors diagnosed her with the disease, she went into septic shock and suffered an acute kidney injury.
In an investigation, it was discovered that the hotel failed to maintain the hot tub in accordance with industry standards. Our client continues to suffer from pain and fatigue. A $300,000 recovery amount was secured for the woman in that case.
Previously, the firm settled two cases of Legionnaires’ Disease resulting from the same resort. The plaintiffs in those cases were unrelated and were not staying at the resort at the same time. Leesfield & Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, along with other attorneys at the firm were able to prove that the resort did not properly maintain or sanitize water systems that fueled multiple decorative fountains on the property.
A six-figure settlement for each client was reached in those cases.
Another Leesfield & Partners client was represented by Mr. Shane after they were exposed to the Legionella bacteria during their stay at an Airbnb. That case settled for six figures.
And Legionnaires’ disease is not the only hazard that can cause an accident or injury at a resort or public pool. Equipment failures and improper facilities can also have grave consequences for those who use these facilities. Such as the case for the family in a previous Leesfield & Partners case out of Osceola County.
In that case, our client’s son was swimming when he was tragically caught in the suction of the pool’s drain. The child could not be removed because the hotel failed to have an emergency shut off switch.
For nearly 10 minutes, our client’s child remained underwater. As a result, he was later diagnosed with brain damage that would require life-long medical care. This case, which was handled by Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, is the largest result of its kind in Osceola County.
