Wrongful death lawsuit tied to 2022 Legionnaire outbreak in Napa heads to trial

A wrongful death lawsuit filed after a 2022 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in downtown Napa that killed one person and hospitalized 16 more is headed to trial next week. The complaint, originally filed in January 2023, alleges those involved in maintaining a Hilton hotel’s decorative pond and a cooling tower — which can disperse Legionella bacteria into the surrounding area — failed to do so. This allowed the bacteria to grow in the water systems, leading to the outbreak between July 2022 and August 2022, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs — represented by the Napa-based Coombs & Dunlap law firm — are the spouse and two children of David Ward, who came down with Legionnaires’ disease on July 23, 2022, and died five days later, at age 66, after being hospitalized in an intensive care unit, according to the complaint.