RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Riviera Beach is settling a lawsuit after a man claims the city’s water was contaminated with E. coli and created gastrointestinal diseases, according to records WPTV received from a public records request.
This settlement is the first time it’s been publicly reported that the city paid an individual private citizen for drinking contaminated city water. However, the city only paid $5,000 and didn’t have to pay the man’s attorney fees to stop the case from going to trial, along with any other additional proceedings like depositions.
WATCH: City settles with man who claimed water made him sick
The city is still fighting fines from the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach collectively worth more than $1.2 million, after the state investigated the city’s water utility for 189 different violations, of which the state agency found evidence to assess the city utility with 155 violations.
We’re still working on getting a response from a spokesperson from the city of Riviera Beach.
City staff said at a previous council meeting that more than 100 people have filed claims with the city, a required precursor before filing a lawsuit against a municipality. However, Jose Rivera is the only person known publicly to file a lawsuit claiming the water caused a months-long illness that impacted his ability to work as a truck driver.
The lawsuit claims the utility was negligent for taking months to notify customers of a positive E. coli test of well water in June 2023, and that the utility breached its contract with customers for failing to provide them with safe drinking water.
Rivera said in February 2024 that his symptoms started in September 2023, more than a month after the positive test.
"[I was] sweating. Every time I tried to eat something, I could not hold it," he said. "The minute something touched my stomach — I mean, it was horrible."
Rivera said he was afraid to leave his home because of his frequent trips to the bathroom. He said he started feeling better in January, and that he only drinks bottled water.
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Riviera Beach man sues utility district, claims drinking water made him sick
At the time, Riviera’s attorney, Nick Johnson, said he expected to file more lawsuits. But WPTV hasn’t seen any additional lawsuits filed against the city over its water contamination across 2024. WPTV’s Ethan Stein reached out to Johnson after finding records showing the settlement.
Rochelle Baker-Hughes, who lives in Riviera Beach, said she’s surprised the city settled the lawsuit and is concerned more individuals will file lawsuits against the city because a lot of people said the water made them sick at city council meetings.
She told us she only uses bottled water because of the variety of issues and even switched her animals to bottled water after she received advice from her veterinarian.
“In any city, nobody should have to go through this,” Baker-Hughes said. “…We’re hoping that this $400 million new water utility plant is going to fix that. But, this never should have happened.”
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