Leroy N. Soetoro
2010-03-16 06:08:53 UTC
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/science/earth/12zero.html
A settlement of up to $657.5 million has been reached in the cases of
thousands of rescue and cleanup workers at ground zero who sued the city
over damage to their health, according to city officials and lawyers for
the plaintiffs.
They said that the settlement would compensate about 10,000 plaintiffs
according to the severity of their illnesses and the level of their
exposure to contaminants at the World Trade Center site.
Lawyers from both sides met on Thursday to discuss the terms of the
settlement with Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York.
Payouts to the plaintiffs would come out of a federally financed
insurance fund of about $1.1 billion that is controlled by the city. At
least 95 percent of the plaintiffs must accept its terms for it take
effect. If 100 percent of the plaintiffs agree to the terms, the total
settlement would be $657.5 million. But if only the required 95 percent
agreed, the total would be reduced to $575 million.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimated that individual settlement amounts
will vary from thousands of dollars to more than $1 million for the most
serious injuries.
The settlement, which took two years to negotiate, raises the prospect
of an end to years of complex and politically charged litigation that
has pitted angry victims against city officials, who questioned the
validity of some claims and argued that the city should be immune from
liability. This is a good settlement, said Marc Bern, a lawyer with a
firm that represents more than 9000 plaintiffs, and we are gratified
that these heroic men and women who performed their duties without
consideration of the health implications will finally receive just
compensation for their pain and suffering, lost wages, medical and other
expenses, as the U.S. Congress intended when it appropriated this
money.
In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, called the settlement a
fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances.
Under the settlement, a claims administrator, who will be chosen by the
lawyers in the case, would decide whether a given plaintiff had a valid
claim, whether the plaintiff qualified for compensation and if so, for
how much. The system is similar to the one used for payouts from the
Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund to families of those killed in the
terrorist attacks. The process is meant to screen out fraudulent claims.
Since 2003, thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction
workers and emergency responders have filed lawsuits against 90
defendants including the city and the private companies it hired to
remove debris at ground zero over illnesses they say developed after
they spent days, weeks or months working at the World Trade Center site
after the attacks.
The plaintiffs claimed that their conditions most commonly asthma and
other respiratory illnesses resulted from the toxic brew of
contaminants at ground zero and the defendants failure to adequately
supervise and protect them with safety equipment, like respirators.
Among the first cases chosen for trial was that of a 47-year-old
firefighter, Raymond W. Hauber, who died of esophageal cancer in 2007
before his case could be heard.
Some of the cases that fall under the settlement involve plaintiffs who
are not ill now, but fear they will develop illnesses like cancer that
can take years to manifest themselves. The settlement provides for a
$23.4 million insurance policy to cover future claims by such
plaintiffs.
The first 12 cases were scheduled to come to trial on May 16 in
Manhattan and those trials will now not take place. But under the
settlement, plaintiffs have 90 days to opt out of the settlement and
pursue trials.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs would collect a third of the settlement
amounts in legal fees. The city-controlled insurance fund financed by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already paid out more than
$200 million in legal fees to defend the city and its contractors and in
administrative costs.
To determine individual settlement amounts, the administrator will use a
a point system to determine the severity of a plaintiffs illness, as
documented by medical history. Other factors that will be considered
include evidence of a link to ground zero and adjustments for age,
pre-existing conditions, time of diagnosis, smoking history and length
of time spent at ground zero.
The process could take up to a year.
Mindful of the high public interest in the cases, Judge Hellerstein has
told lawyers on both sides that he planned to review each settlement and
hold fairness hearings to determine whether the settlements were
reasonable, which legal experts said was unusual for litigation not
involving a class action.
Many of them are similar, but in fundamental aspects they have an
individual plaintiff they all revolve around one person, Judge
Hellerstein told the lawyers at a Jan. 21 hearing. Ill be looking
carefully, if there is a settlement, at how individual members are
treated.
The city argued that it was immune from damages in cases involving a
national emergency or a civil defense disaster. Lawyers for the city
also questioned the connection between the illnesses and exposure at
ground zero and cast doubt on many of the claims themselves, for
example, arguing in the case of a mechanic for Consolidated Edison,
which was also to be among the first trials, that the mans lung and
respiratory problems predated 9/11.
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York's
million dollar tax evasion. On February 25, 2010, the House ethics
committee has concluded that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles
B. Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules
that forbid hidden financing by corporations. Democrat criminal Nancy
Pelosi is deliberately ignoring the million dollar tax evasion of
Democrat Charles Rangel.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to be forced to remove Charles B. Rangel
from the House Ways and Means Committee.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---
A settlement of up to $657.5 million has been reached in the cases of
thousands of rescue and cleanup workers at ground zero who sued the city
over damage to their health, according to city officials and lawyers for
the plaintiffs.
They said that the settlement would compensate about 10,000 plaintiffs
according to the severity of their illnesses and the level of their
exposure to contaminants at the World Trade Center site.
Lawyers from both sides met on Thursday to discuss the terms of the
settlement with Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York.
Payouts to the plaintiffs would come out of a federally financed
insurance fund of about $1.1 billion that is controlled by the city. At
least 95 percent of the plaintiffs must accept its terms for it take
effect. If 100 percent of the plaintiffs agree to the terms, the total
settlement would be $657.5 million. But if only the required 95 percent
agreed, the total would be reduced to $575 million.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimated that individual settlement amounts
will vary from thousands of dollars to more than $1 million for the most
serious injuries.
The settlement, which took two years to negotiate, raises the prospect
of an end to years of complex and politically charged litigation that
has pitted angry victims against city officials, who questioned the
validity of some claims and argued that the city should be immune from
liability. This is a good settlement, said Marc Bern, a lawyer with a
firm that represents more than 9000 plaintiffs, and we are gratified
that these heroic men and women who performed their duties without
consideration of the health implications will finally receive just
compensation for their pain and suffering, lost wages, medical and other
expenses, as the U.S. Congress intended when it appropriated this
money.
In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, called the settlement a
fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances.
Under the settlement, a claims administrator, who will be chosen by the
lawyers in the case, would decide whether a given plaintiff had a valid
claim, whether the plaintiff qualified for compensation and if so, for
how much. The system is similar to the one used for payouts from the
Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund to families of those killed in the
terrorist attacks. The process is meant to screen out fraudulent claims.
Since 2003, thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction
workers and emergency responders have filed lawsuits against 90
defendants including the city and the private companies it hired to
remove debris at ground zero over illnesses they say developed after
they spent days, weeks or months working at the World Trade Center site
after the attacks.
The plaintiffs claimed that their conditions most commonly asthma and
other respiratory illnesses resulted from the toxic brew of
contaminants at ground zero and the defendants failure to adequately
supervise and protect them with safety equipment, like respirators.
Among the first cases chosen for trial was that of a 47-year-old
firefighter, Raymond W. Hauber, who died of esophageal cancer in 2007
before his case could be heard.
Some of the cases that fall under the settlement involve plaintiffs who
are not ill now, but fear they will develop illnesses like cancer that
can take years to manifest themselves. The settlement provides for a
$23.4 million insurance policy to cover future claims by such
plaintiffs.
The first 12 cases were scheduled to come to trial on May 16 in
Manhattan and those trials will now not take place. But under the
settlement, plaintiffs have 90 days to opt out of the settlement and
pursue trials.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs would collect a third of the settlement
amounts in legal fees. The city-controlled insurance fund financed by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already paid out more than
$200 million in legal fees to defend the city and its contractors and in
administrative costs.
To determine individual settlement amounts, the administrator will use a
a point system to determine the severity of a plaintiffs illness, as
documented by medical history. Other factors that will be considered
include evidence of a link to ground zero and adjustments for age,
pre-existing conditions, time of diagnosis, smoking history and length
of time spent at ground zero.
The process could take up to a year.
Mindful of the high public interest in the cases, Judge Hellerstein has
told lawyers on both sides that he planned to review each settlement and
hold fairness hearings to determine whether the settlements were
reasonable, which legal experts said was unusual for litigation not
involving a class action.
Many of them are similar, but in fundamental aspects they have an
individual plaintiff they all revolve around one person, Judge
Hellerstein told the lawyers at a Jan. 21 hearing. Ill be looking
carefully, if there is a settlement, at how individual members are
treated.
The city argued that it was immune from damages in cases involving a
national emergency or a civil defense disaster. Lawyers for the city
also questioned the connection between the illnesses and exposure at
ground zero and cast doubt on many of the claims themselves, for
example, arguing in the case of a mechanic for Consolidated Edison,
which was also to be among the first trials, that the mans lung and
respiratory problems predated 9/11.
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York's
million dollar tax evasion. On February 25, 2010, the House ethics
committee has concluded that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles
B. Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules
that forbid hidden financing by corporations. Democrat criminal Nancy
Pelosi is deliberately ignoring the million dollar tax evasion of
Democrat Charles Rangel.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to be forced to remove Charles B. Rangel
from the House Ways and Means Committee.
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