11 lawsuits against Organigram over legionnaires’ disease outbreak end

Almost a dozen lawsuits against cannabis firm Organigram over a 2019 legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Moncton have quietly ended.

Court records show 11 separate cases filed in August were discontinued with consent orders signed by both a lawyer for the plaintiffs and the company last month.

The records do not say whether there were settlements, which can include a non-disclosure agreement, or provide any reason why the cases have suddenly ended.

The cases filed by some of the 16 people who became ill alleged Organigram was negligent in the operation of cooling towers Public Health determined was the source of the outbreak and didn’t take adequate measures to reduce the risk of growth of the legionella bacteria that causes the illness.

Statements of defence filed in the cases in August acknowledged the company’s cooling towers had high bacteria counts “coinciding” with the 2019 outbreak but denied wrongdoing and said the company wasn’t responsible for harm to those who became ill.

Lyndsay Jardine, a lawyer who represented the 11 people in the cases, declined to comment. Organigram also declined to comment. One of the plaintiffs reached by CBC also declined to comment.

The outbreak was announced in August 2019 and was declared over a month later. All 16 people who became ill with the severe form of pneumonia survived. Fifteen were hospitalized and some were placed in an induced coma.

Records obtained by CBC News through multiple access-to-information requests revealed that Public Health pinpointed cooling towers on Organigram’s facility as the origin of the outbreak. The province and Organigram refused to publicly acknowledge that until December 2020.

The towers are mechanical equipment with water and a fan that are part of the centralized cooling system for a variety of types of buildings.

Bacteria can grow and spread into the community on mist carried from the towers by the wind. The illness doesn’t spread person-to-person.

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