Overview

• Civil rights leaders and attorneys said their caseload has reached 35 clients, including four families bringing wrongful-death claims and several hospitalized construction workers.
• The legal team filed a new lawsuit against Skanska on behalf of another worker and served 17 notices of claim against the city that include multiple wrongful-death allegations.
• City health officials previously traced the outbreak to cooling towers at Harlem Hospital and a nearby city‑leased construction site, reporting 114 cases, 90 hospitalizations and seven deaths as of Aug. 29.
• Attorneys allege the construction site tower overseen by Skanska went online in May without required registration and that required inspections and testing were not performed, contributing to wider harms they say may be undercounted.
• Skanska said it coordinated with the Health Department to disinfect the jobsite tower and declined to discuss pending litigation, while health officials defended their response at a Council hearing and supported more frequent cooling‑tower testing.