Chicago judge believes he contracted Legionnaires' disease from Dirksen federal building water

CHICAGO (WLS) -- U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman took a three-month hiatus from the bench due to a debilitating illness. He recounted to the I-Team when he realized something was dangerously awry.

"I've never felt so sick in my adult life as I did with this thing. Your whole body is just totally wrecked," Judge Gettleman said. "I just basically slid down the bed onto the floor and was incoherent."

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Gettleman says he was hospitalized and diagnosed with meningitis. Then his doctor reviewed his bloodwork.

"He said, 'this looks very much like Legionnaires' disease. So, I'm going to give him a Z-Pak antibiotic right away before he gets any sicker.' So, they gave me the Z-Pak. And according to my wife, by the next morning, I was totally cogent," Gettleman said.

Gettleman says he believes he contracted Legionnaires' disease from regularly brushing his teeth in his Dirksen building bathroom.

"We couldn't say 100 percent I had Legionnaires' disease, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong. 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," Gettleman said.

A court source provided the I-Team with photos showing signs posted on Dirksen building water fountains within the last month, warning the public not to drink the water, saying "Certain fixtures in this facility have tested outside of the corresponding threshold for copper, lead, and Legionella. These fixtures have been removed from service. Corrective action is being implemented."

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People are being referred to the General Services Administration or GSA. That's the government agency that manages the building.

"But there is a method out there that's not cost prohibitive that can prevent it, and that's the frustrating part. I don't know if anybody else has gotten sick," Gettleman told the I-Team.

For years, the judiciary and local federal lawmakers knew this was an issue and have been advocating for GSA to install additional water filtration systems for the Dirksen building after positive tests for Legionella, but they have not been added.

"It is frustrating to know that there was a solution that wasn't being used that could have prevented all this, and it's pretty outrageous when you think about it," Gettleman said.

He is in his 80s and had polio as a child.

"My mobility wasn't great to begin with, and it's worse now," Gettleman said.

Gettleman is back on the bench but is still recovering.

"I'm just concentrating on getting better," he said.

In a statement to the I-Team, the General Services Administration said, "It is ironic that the courts, which rely on evidence to administer justice, would suggest a causal connection between an employee's illness and the water quality at the Dirksen Courthouse without any substantiating evidence. At a time when judicial case backlogs remain significant, the courts should remain focused on their core mission rather than engage in unsupported medical speculation."