"They were afraid that I had a serious infection, and the attending doctor...looked at the blood work results...he said...'this looks very much like Legionnaires' disease,'" U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman told the I-Team.
The senior judge is still recovering from the effects of what his doctor believes was Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia that kills 1 in 10 people who get sick from the bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a recent off camera interview, Judge Gettleman told the I-Team he believes he contracted Legionnaires' from regularly brushing his teeth in his chambers' bathroom at the courthouse which is managed by the U.S. General Services Administration, known as GSA. They installed these new filters in his shower last month before his return.
"I had the symptoms, the blood work, and when they tested the water in my bathroom, it had ...Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease," said Gettleman.
The court provided the I-Team results of that test along with 2 years-worth of others from both a company GSA hired, and ones hired by the court. Since at least 2024, concerning levels of Legionella continue to be detected in various parts of the Dirksen, including in Gettleman's bathroom in 2024 and 2026.
"Two years ago, we got this report from our experts saying what would really be beneficial is if you got a secondary disinfection system on a chloramine, a disinfection system, and we said to GSA, please, can we have that? Well, their response was no. And we said, I'll tell you what, we will pay for it. The court will pay for it. And GSA said no," said Chief Judge Virginia Kendall.
The August 2024 report said GSA's efforts have "not resulted in adequate control of the risk" from the building's water system. It went on to say the repeated flushing of the system has not been sufficient "to mitigate the risk of...Legionnaires' Disease."
"So, for two years, we've been kind of going back and forth with, can't we agree on getting a secondary system? And it was when my colleague got ill and we had this connection between the very, very high levels of Legionella in his chambers. That's when we said, you have to do this for us. And they agreed finally," said Chief Judge Kendall.
Illinois' Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sent a letter to GSA two weeks ago calling on the agency to urgently address longstanding maintenance issues at the Dirksen. And last week, Durbin introduced bipartisan legislation that would transfer building management from GSA to the judiciary. First a pilot program in 10 districts, including here, would test if the courts can manage themselves. There is an estimated $8.3 billion repair backlog for federal courthouses nationwide.
READ MORE | Durbin pressing for action amid possible Legionella at Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago
"It's not just about us; it's about the public. And it's frustrating when your landlord gives you delay upon delay upon delay," said Kendall. "And so, we really want to try and do it ourselves so that we can do it more efficiently for the people."
Meantime, Judge Gettleman says the disease itself is probably gone, but the effects of it are not.
GSA turned down our requests for an on-camera interview but in a statement to the I-Team a spokesperson said:
"GSA remains fully committed to safeguarding the health and peace of mind of everyone who works in or visits all GSAowned facilities. Our watersafety protocols employ testing standards that are ten times more stringent than EPA requirements, far exceeding typical privatesector practices- many private facilities do not test drinking water at all.
We wish Judge Gettleman a swift and complete recovery. However, GSA's comprehensive testing and independent expert reviews have found no causal connection between the building's water systems and his illness. The Dirksen Courthouse serves a population of several thousand federal employees, contractors, and visitors, and no additional illnesses of this nature have been identified.
Out of an abundance of caution, and consistent with our commitment to maintaining safe federal workplaces, GSA will proceed with installing a secondary disinfection system, pending approval by the Illinois Department of Public Health."