Two Legionnaires’ Deaths Hit Home for Corboy & Demetrio Lawyers involved in ’98 Case

Ten years ago, Corboy & Demetrio partner Dan Kirschner successfully obtained a substantial settlement for a woman staying at a Courtyard by Marriott in Des Plaines who contracted Legionnaires’ disease from the hotel’s spa. 

“It’s amazing to me that in this day and age with everything the hospitality industry knows about the cause and prevention of Legionella that outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease could occur,” said Kirschner, reacting to the news that two guests of the JW Marriott died in a Legionnaires’ outbreak, which was revealed yesterday.

In the lawsuit filed by Corboy & Demetrio back in 1998, the victim, a 48-year-old woman successfully claimed that Courtyard failed to properly manage, maintain and operate its spa; failed to properly test the spa for presence of Legionella bacterium; and failed to follow Illinois Department of Public Health Guidelines for the safe operation of public spas.    The woman used the hotel’s spa during a visit in 1998 and suffered permanent injuries to her lungs.

Responding to the news of the two deaths of hotel guests at JW Marriott,