U.S. Navy veteran Cleopatra Brown filed a civil personal injury lawsuit against Spa Castle Inc. on Aug. 14, 2026, in Kings County Supreme Court, alleging that the College Point, Queens bathhouse failed to properly clean and maintain its facilities, contributing to a bacterial infection she developed after visiting the resort during her 62nd birthday celebration on July 30.
The lawsuit names Spa Castle Inc. as the sole defendant. According to the complaint, Brown alleged that the commercial bathhouse failed to properly sanitize robes, linens and communal water features and that she subsequently developed cellulitis that spread across her right leg and foot.
What Does the Lawsuit Allege About Spa Castle’s Health and Safety Practices?
The lawsuit filed in the Kings County Supreme Court alleged issues with the maintenance and health protocols at the College Point facility. Brown, an ordained minister and Brownsville resident who served six years in the U.S. Navy, visited the 100,000-square-foot urban day resort with her family. According to the complaint, she developed cellulitis after using the facility’s water jets, pools and shared linens.
The civil complaint alleges that Spa Castle Inc. failed to maintain a reasonably safe environment for its patrons. Specifically, Brown’s lawsuit accuses management of:
- Failing to properly disinfect and sanitize shared linens, including robes and towels provided to guests.
- Neglecting routine water testing across its 22 hydrotherapy pools and hot tubs.
- Operating water features without maintaining required chemical disinfectant levels.
- Inadequately cleaning high-traffic surfaces, locker room floors and communal soaking areas.
Cellulitis is a skin infection that can occur when bacteria enter the body through a break in the skin, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Left untreated, it can spread through surrounding tissue and cause severe inflammation, pain and other medical complications. The presence of cellulitis alone, however, does not establish where or how an infection was acquired.
Earlier this month and roughly a week before she filed the lawsuit, Brown shared another post shouting out her friends and Spa Castle.
Spa Castle Inc. and a History of Regulatory Scrutiny
The personal injury lawsuit is not the first time the College Point day resort has faced public or regulatory scrutiny. Modeled after traditional Korean jjimjilbang bathhouses, the multilevel facility offers indoor and outdoor hydrotherapy, dry saunas and spa treatments.
The New York Post reported that in March 2016, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene temporarily closed the facility for nearly two months after a 6-year-old girl nearly drowned when her hair became trapped in an underwater pool filter. City inspectors cited the spa for critical safety violations before allowing it to reopen.
In 2014, an 84-year-old patron was found dead at the bottom of an outdoor soaking pool. Medical examiners later attributed the death to underlying cardiovascular disease.
The facility’s regulatory history provides additional context for the current litigation, but those prior incidents are separate from Brown’s allegations and do not establish liability in her case.
What Is Brown Seeking in the Kings County Supreme Court Lawsuit?
The 62-year-old Navy veteran’s complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering and other alleged losses stemming from the infection.
The court filing asserted that Spa Castle Inc. earned substantial revenue from goods and services provided within New York state and should have reasonably anticipated the consequences of allegedly negligent facility management.
Brown is represented by attorney Michael B. Palillo, who declined to comment publicly on the ongoing litigation. Representatives for Spa Castle Inc. and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
The lawsuit remains pending in Kings County Supreme Court.
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