Contracting Legionnaires disease can upend your health and finances. Symptoms can quickly become severe and this usually results in lengthy hospital stays and extended treatment plans. Both of these come at a cost. You’re probably also missing work so your pay is limited, adding to your financial worries.
Thankfully, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. However, this means establishing negligence in a Legionnaires disease lawsuit and it’s not always to do. If you can’t establish negligence, there’s a good chance you can’t file a compensation claim.
Who May Be Liable for Your Legionnaires Disease Claim?
Before you can start trying to prove negligence, you need to determine who’s liable for your damages. In this instance, liability falls to the person, individuals, and/or entity responsible for maintaining the site’s water supply.
Where you contract the disease also plays a role in determining liability. For example, if you contract Legionnaires disease at a community swimming pool you’re probably not going to try and hold a nearby hotel liable for your damages.
Liability typically only applies to the property owner, manager, or entity responsible for maintaining the premises. Sometimes, even a manufacturer can also be liable. If you’re wondering if a faulty product like shower head can be both a Legionnaires disease and a product liability claim, the answer is no.
Since the shower head is responsible for breeding and dispersing the bacteria, you can only hold the manufacturer liable for your damages relating to contracting the disease.
Since determining liability can be complex, especially if more than one party or individual is negligent, it’s usually best to partner with an experienced Legionnaires disease accident attorney. They can help you wade through the potentially liable parties and even track down the source of the contamination.
How to Establish Negligence in a Legionnaires Disease Claim?
Your Legionnaires disease claim falls under the broad umbrella of personal injury law. Essentially, this rule applies to almost any claim involving an accident that results in damages. Your damages in a Legionnaires disease claim typically include your medical expenses, lost income, and mental anguish.
However, before you can submit a claim against the at-fault party, you must prove the key elements of negligence. These elements are duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
1. Duty of Care
Everyone owes someone a duty of care. Motorists have a duty to other drivers to operate their vehicles safely without placing others at risk. Property owners and managers have a duty to ensure that all visitors’ premises are free from hazards. These hazards include the presence of legionella bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease.
2. Breach of Duty
When someone neglects their duty, it’s considered a breach. For property owners, they may breach their duty of care by not removing all hazards from the property. Yes, legionella bacteria is microscopic. You can’t see the bacteria with the naked eye. To determine if the bacteria is present in the water, testing usually needs to be done. This is also when the law can get a little confusing.
The legal definition of a breach of duty is failing to act in the manner of a reasonable person. Sometimes, this is relatively easy to prove. If a driver runs a red light, it’s a breach of duty since a reasonable driver will come to a stop.
For property owners, conducting tests for the presence of Legionnaires disease isn’t commonly included on their to-do lists. So, does not testing for the bacteria count as a breach of duty? Since most reasonable property owners aren’t testing for legionella bacteria, it’s probably not a breach of duty.
What can be considered a breach of duty is failing to maintain the property, including the plumbing. This is something a reasonable person will probably take care of. If you can prove the individual or entity responsible for the property isn’t keeping up with maintenance, you may be on your way to showing negligence.
3. Causation
Usually, this is one of the easier elements of negligence to show but it can be complicated in Legionnaires disease claims. You must show that you contracted the disease on the property. This usually means taking samples of the water and possibly even the soil to test for the presence of the bacteria.
If you believe you contracted Legionnaires disease from something like a drinking fountain or shower head, samples from the suspected item may also be required. Getting test results back can take a while but it’s also an essential part of the legal process.
4. Damages
Regardless of the type of injury claim, this is almost always the easiest element of negligence to prove. You must show your damages are directly caused by the legionella bacteria. Usually, the combination of identifying the source of the infection and your medical records is enough to prove your damages.
Types of Recoverable Damages in a Legionnaires Disease Claim
You’re probably aware of some types of damages you can list in a Legionnaires disease injury claim. Your medical expenses are a fairly obvious loss and you should be able to claim everything relating to your diagnosis and treatment.
Some cases of Legionnaires disease result in health complications requiring long-term or lifetime care. These are also recoverable damages. You will need to provide medical documentation to support your claim. If long-term or lifetime care is needed, an expert medical professional may also need to testify.
Since Legionnaires disease is considered a contagious illness, you’re probably going to miss some work. You can include your lost earnings in your claim. If your symptoms are preventing you from returning to work. There’s a chance you can claim lost future earnings. Your pay stubs and other financial statements will be necessary to support this part of your injury claim.
Don’t forget about your non-economic damages like pain, suffering, and mental anguish. Since these losses are intangible, your attorney can help you calculate their value. Forgetting to include your non-economic damages can significantly reduce the value of your claim.
Don’t Go through the Legal Process Alone
Proving negligence in a Legionnaires disease claim is rarely a simple process, but it’s an important thing that you should do if you’ve been affected by it. Working with an experienced injury attorney can simplify the process and help ensure you receive fair compensation for your damages.
