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Legionnaires’ outbreaks spark risk management concerns - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Legionnaires’ outbreaks spark risk management concerns by Claire Wilkinson General liability , Property , Risk Management Aug 11, 2026 Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in New York City over the past two years, along with new state cooling tower maintenance rules and related litigation, should prompt building owners to review their risk management practices and insurance coverage, industry sources say. Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation requiring twice-yearly cooling tower certifications, faster reporting of serious health threats, stricter maintenance requirements and longer recordkeeping. Under the law, violations resulting in a fatality or serious injury can carry civil penalties of up to $12,500. “This is a wake-up call for real estate owners,” said Duncan Ellis, New York-based real estate practice leader at Marsh Risk. Cooling towers and other building systems often receive less attention than more visible parts of a property until something goes wrong, he said. Building owners should ensure inspection, maintenance and cleaning protocols are followed, he said. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling tiny water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria, which can grow in poorly maintained cooling towers and other water systems. Cooling towers are commonly found on large commercial buildings, hospitals and hotels. Plaintiffs attorney Ben Crump on Thursday sued the City of New York, NYC Health + Hospitals and private contractors over the July 2025 Central Harlem Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, alleging they failed to properly inspect and maintain cooling towers, allowing Legionella bacteria to spread. The outbreak was linked to seven deaths and 118 reported cases. Health officials declared this year’s Upper East Side Legionnaires’ disease outbreak over on July 31, after 14 days without any new cases. The outbreak was linked to seven deaths, with 92 people testing positive for the disease and dozens hospitalized. Building owners should review their property and liability insurance, sources said. The presence of Legionella bacteria in a cooling tower generally would not trigger property coverage because it does not constitute physical damage to covered property, Mr. Ellis said, likening it to many COVID-19 business interruption disputes. There is a misconception that Legionella claims will be covered under commercial general liability policies because they involve third-party bodily injury, said Jared Dubrowsky, Miami-based environmental transaction leader at Howden US. Coverage is often excluded or subject to low sublimits and “the only way to get definitive coverage” is through a site pollution liability policy, he said. Site pollution liability policies typically cover bodily injury claims, legal defense costs, business interruption and remediation related to Legionella contamination, although coverage may be subject to higher retentions than for other pollution claims, Mr. Dubrowsky said. Coverage disputes are not new. Court decisions have turned on the wording of communicable disease, bacteria and pollution exclusions, attorneys said. Coverage depends in part on whether building owners properly maintain their cooling towers or water systems, said Joshua Kopelowitz, New York-based partner at Fox Rothschild. “Were you otherwise properly maintaining your … water tower … such that you would have a fair argument with the carrier that you did nothing wrong?” he said. Commercial general liability policies, absent new exclusions or new endorsements, should cover Legionnaires’ disease, said Steven J. Pudell, a managing shareholder of Anderson Kill’s Newark, New Jersey office. A federal judge in 2024 ruled that a communicable disease exclusion did not apply to Legionnaires’ disease in a coverage dispute involving Berkley Insurance because the disease is not spread from person to person, he said. In The Doe Fund Inc. v Berkley Insurance Co., a New York-based homeless services nonprofit represented by Mr. Pudell sought coverage for lawsuits alleging people contracted Legionnaires’ disease after exposure to Legionella bacteria released from cooling towers at two Bronx properties between May and October 2022. The court found Berkley had a duty to defend the nonprofit but stayed a decision on indemnity pending the outcome of the underlying suits, Mr. Pudell said. Standard pollution exclusions also generally should not bar coverage for Legionnaires’ disease claims, although policies should be reviewed individually because manuscript endorsements or exclusions specifically addressing the disease may apply, he said. In 2011, the Eleventh Circuit in Westport Insurance Corp. v. VN Hotel Group held that a pollution exclusion did not bar coverage for claims arising from Legionnaires’ disease allegedly contracted from a hotel’s outdoor spa. Employers that own their buildings should have preventive maintenance programs and regularly test and treat cooling systems, said Todd B. Logsdon, Louisville, Kentucky-based partner at Fisher Phillips. Employers leasing space should confirm that landlords are maintaining and testing cooling towers, he said. Employers cannot simply rely on landlords if they know of a Legionella hazard. “You can’t say ‘Well, I called the landlord,’” Mr. Logsdon said. If an employee contracts Legionnaires’ disease “arising out of and in the course of” employment, the claim would likely be compensable under workers compensation in most states, he said. 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