by ARI PAUL
A settlement between more than 10,000 workers and the city and its contractors was reached March 11, allowing 9/11 clean-up and recovery workers who became ill due to their time at Ground Zero to obtain compensation.
According to a statement from the city Law Department, "The settlement will cost the Federal-taxpayer funded WTC Captive $575 million at 95-percent plaintiff participation, or up to $657 million under certain conditions, leaving residual funds to insure and defend the city and its contractors against any new claims."
Must Document Presence, Illness
It continued, "To recover under the settlement, each plaintiff will have to submit proof that he or she was present and participated in the rescue, recovery and debris removal operations, as well as specific medical documentation and a physician's diagnosis confirming their claimed illness or injury."
It added, "This settlement also funds a special insurance policy to provide additional compensation to any plaintiff contracting certain kinds of cancer in the future."
The plaintiffs include uniformed first responders-who make up a majority of the group-construction workers, and Ground Zero volunteers who are suffering from various illnesses including upper-respiratory ailments.
"This settlement brings an end to a substantial injustice," Kenneth Feinberg, the former Special Master of the Federal September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, said in a phone conference with reporters March 12. "The only reason that these eligible claimants didn't get paid pursuant to the rules of the September 11th fund was because they manifested an injury too late, after the fund expired. The workers who worked next to them who did manifest an injury in a timely fashion after 9/11 did get paid by the fund."
‘Relieved End Is in Sight'
Marc Jay Bern, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said that after news broke of the settlement his office received positive phone calls from plaintiffs about the case.
"The clients are quite relieved that they feel that an end is in sight," he said. "They certainly want to know more about the settlement and obviously that will be forthcoming as soon as the Judge gives preliminary approval."
When asked if those clients would meet the 95-percent threshold, Mr. Bern responded, "We are very confident that we will and that we will exceed it."
U.S. District Judge Alvin R. Hellerstein said he would hold hearings on the settlement and hinted he would move to reduce the plaintiffs' lawyers' fees.
Several dozen of the thousands of consolidated lawsuits were set to go before Judge Hellerstein in Manhattan this May.
Mayor: Committed to Helping
Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement: "This settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances. Since September 11th, the city has moved aggressively to provide medical treatment to those who were present at Ground Zero, and we will continue our commitment to treatment and monitoring."
While some worker advocates are hailing the settlement as a victory, first-responder unions are still pushing for the passage of the James Zadroga Act, a bill that would secure permanent Federal funding for health monitoring and treatment programs for 9/11 responders and lower Manhattan residents, workers and students.
NYPD unions and Police Commis- sioner Raymond Kelly spoke in favor of the legislation in Washington, D.C. March 9 before the centrist Blue Dog congressional caucus of the Democratic Party.
Cost a Prime Concern
"We feel that's a critical group to get on our side," said Captains Endowment Association President Roy Richter. "They want to know how it's paid for before they vote on anything."
Mr. Richter said that U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, a sponsor of the bill who helped arrange last week's Capitol Hill meeting, assured the unions that the bill would be voted out of committee and sent to the full House of Representatives by the end of this month.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association's executive board said in a statement, "It is our strong belief that the Zadroga Bill must immediately be passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, regardless of whether this World Trade Center settlement moves forward."
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