MOTT HAVEN — A retired city employee left hospitalized for nearly a week with a fever hitting 104 degrees was the second victim of the recent Legionnaires' disease outbreak to sue the Opera House Hotel, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Former Human Resources Administration worker, Diane Clementine, 59, who lives close to the hotel, filed suit against it after inhaling the legionella bacteria from the hotel's infected cooling tower and contracting the disease, her lawyer Ron Katter claimed in a suit filed in Bronx Supreme Court on Friday.
The disease which city health officials said started in the hotel and clustered around the South Bronx killed 12 people and infected more than 120.
The disease caused Clementine to suffer "severe nervous shock and mental anguish," along with "great physical pain and emotional upset, some of which injuries are believed to be permanent in nature and duration," the lawsuit says.
She was "rundown" after being bedridden in the hospitalized from Aug. 5 through Aug. 10, and contracted a fever of 104 degrees, according to the lawyer.
"She's recuperating but still weak," Katter said.
The hotel promised to fight the suit.
"We expect that some lawyers will attempt to cash in on this unfortunate event," Opera House Hotel spokesman Michael McKeon said in a statement, "but we have lawyers to handle these matters too.”
Leslie Noble, a 54-year-old security guard who lives near the Opera House, also sued the hotel over contracting the disease. He is represented by Katter as well.
The outbreak, which began on July 10 and stretched to Aug. 20, stemmed from bacteria at the Opera House Hotel.
The Opera House Hotel responded to Noble's suit with the same statement.
