Bloomberg Business Week
Lawyers for 10,000 workers claiming illnesses from rescue, recovery and debris removal after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack have agreed with New York City on a $712.5 million compensation fund to settle the cases.
The city and its WTC Captive Insurance Co., set up with $1 billion from the federal government, joined with plaintiffs’ attorneys to present the agreement today to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan.
The accord offers more money than an earlier proposal, and creates eligibility criteria for compensation to those suffering from diseases and injuries including asthma and terminal cancer, said Margaret Warner, Captive Insurance’s lawyer. The agreement also caps attorney’s fees at 25 percent of awards. Each claimant will get a free cancer-insurance policy with a $100,000 benefit.
“This is a settlement that is fair, provides compensation now, certainty now, and closure for these plaintiffs who have waited so long,” Warner said as she presented its terms to Hellerstein.
Describing the agreement as “a very good deal,” the judge signed an order dismissing the lawsuit, and set a June 23 public hearing for claimants and their attorneys to raise any objections. At least 95 percent of the plaintiffs must consent to the agreement for it to become legally binding.
The settlement, if approved, means each plaintiff will be “assured of a fair deal that puts money in their hand fast,” Hellerstein said.
More Money
In March, the judge rejected a previous agreement that would have paid at least $575 million and a maximum of $657 million to claimants. He told the parties to return to the negotiating table to produce a settlement with more money for the plaintiffs.
While lawyers for both sides appealed that decision, disputing the judge’s power to reject the agreement, they agreed to continue negotiations. Today, each side characterized the new accord as a better deal.
The agreement cuts more than $50 million from potential attorney’s fees by reducing the cap to 25 percent from 33 percent in the earlier proposal.
Those claiming debilitating respiratory diseases, such as nonsmokers who contracted severe asthma within seven months of exposure to the smoke and airborne debris from the attack, may get $800,000 to $1.05 million, Captive Insurance said in a news release. Death benefits could reach as much as $1.5 million.
Award Amounts
Plaintiffs with no qualifying injury who claim fear of becoming sick will receive $3,250. All qualifying claimants will get special insurance policies through MetLife Inc. providing a benefit of up to $100,000 in the event they are diagnosed with certain blood and respiratory cancers while covered, Captive Insurance said.
Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney who acted as special master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund awarding money to surviving families of the attack, volunteered to hear appeals of the claims awards at no cost to the fund.
“This is a fair settlement of a difficult and complex case that will allow first responders and workers to feel fairly compensated for injuries suffered following their work at Ground Zero,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Captive Insurance was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to insure the city and debris-removal contractors. The city couldn’t get adequate liability coverage in the commercial market to deal with the rescue, recovery and clean-up work at the trade-center site in lower Manhattan.
The city and its WTC Captive Insurance Co., set up with $1 billion from the federal government, joined with plaintiffs’ attorneys to present the agreement today to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan.
The accord offers more money than an earlier proposal, and creates eligibility criteria for compensation to those suffering from diseases and injuries including asthma and terminal cancer, said Margaret Warner, Captive Insurance’s lawyer. The agreement also caps attorney’s fees at 25 percent of awards. Each claimant will get a free cancer-insurance policy with a $100,000 benefit.
“This is a settlement that is fair, provides compensation now, certainty now, and closure for these plaintiffs who have waited so long,” Warner said as she presented its terms to Hellerstein.
Describing the agreement as “a very good deal,” the judge signed an order dismissing the lawsuit, and set a June 23 public hearing for claimants and their attorneys to raise any objections. At least 95 percent of the plaintiffs must consent to the agreement for it to become legally binding.
The settlement, if approved, means each plaintiff will be “assured of a fair deal that puts money in their hand fast,” Hellerstein said.
More Money
In March, the judge rejected a previous agreement that would have paid at least $575 million and a maximum of $657 million to claimants. He told the parties to return to the negotiating table to produce a settlement with more money for the plaintiffs.
While lawyers for both sides appealed that decision, disputing the judge’s power to reject the agreement, they agreed to continue negotiations. Today, each side characterized the new accord as a better deal.
The agreement cuts more than $50 million from potential attorney’s fees by reducing the cap to 25 percent from 33 percent in the earlier proposal.
Those claiming debilitating respiratory diseases, such as nonsmokers who contracted severe asthma within seven months of exposure to the smoke and airborne debris from the attack, may get $800,000 to $1.05 million, Captive Insurance said in a news release. Death benefits could reach as much as $1.5 million.
Award Amounts
Plaintiffs with no qualifying injury who claim fear of becoming sick will receive $3,250. All qualifying claimants will get special insurance policies through MetLife Inc. providing a benefit of up to $100,000 in the event they are diagnosed with certain blood and respiratory cancers while covered, Captive Insurance said.
Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney who acted as special master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund awarding money to surviving families of the attack, volunteered to hear appeals of the claims awards at no cost to the fund.
“This is a fair settlement of a difficult and complex case that will allow first responders and workers to feel fairly compensated for injuries suffered following their work at Ground Zero,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Captive Insurance was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to insure the city and debris-removal contractors. The city couldn’t get adequate liability coverage in the commercial market to deal with the rescue, recovery and clean-up work at the trade-center site in lower Manhattan.
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