Plim Plaza Seeks Lawsuit Dismissal

Three weeks after a Virginia couple filed a $6 million suit against a historic Boardwalk hotel and its ownership group after one of them allegedly fell ill to Legionnaire’s Disease, the defendants this week denied the allegations and are seeking a dismissal of the case.

In October, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Worcester County Health Department confirmed the presence of legionellosis, more commonly known as Legionnaire’s Disease, in the water system at the Plim Plaza Hotel on the Boardwalk after as many as six individuals who had stayed at the facility during the late summer months had contracted the disease. One of the victims, an elderly out-of-state guest at the hotel, later succumbed to symptoms of the disease.

On April 18, a Virginia couple, Pat Eldon Dent, Jr. and his wife Martha Dent, filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging negligence on the part of the hotel for failing to “adequately inspect, monitor and maintain its premises and the hotel’s water system for dangerous conditions, including but not limited to the presence of legionella.” The Virginia couple is seeking a total of $6 million in compensatory damages, including $5 million for the negligence count and an additional $1 million for loss of consortium.

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