Settlement proposed for WTC clean-up claims
Lawyers acting for Bovis Lend Lease and others have proposed a settlement to a class action lawsuit brought by people involved in clean-up operations following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, US. The case was brought by a total of 15347 people claiming workers were exposed to hazardous materials during the clean-up work.
The US Congress took out a US$ 1 billion captive insurance policy to protect the City of New York and companies such as Bovis from liabilities incurred in the clean-up work, known as WTC Captive.
Counsel for the claimants and counsel for WTC Captive have now reached an agreement on compensation that would see average payments per person of about US$ 42800. This will be put to group of claimants comprising 9232 people directly exposed and 6115 secondary claimants such as spouses.
There are conditions on the settlement becoming effective, which includes at least 95% of plaintiffs 'opting in' to the agreement within 90 days of its announcement today. If all claimants in the class opt in, the total settlement will be US$ 658 million.
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Comments (5)
I don't agree with the law suit, the rescue workers knew about the hazardous materials on the site, when the towers came down. If the workers had the 40-hours Hazwoper training they would of known the dangers in that type of clean up. And with OSHA on site for the clean up operations, The workers could have asked some simply questions, and got the protective gear that they would have required for the task that they were involved in. As i see it, as my opinion, Its a sceam to get money from the goverment, and insurance companys. All they to do was protect themselves
Brian Trudeau at 14:16 on 17.03.2010
Report CommentYour comments hit the nail on the head. What exactly are they claiming to be exposed to?
Chris Holland at 18:04 on 17.03.2010
Report CommentThis is a ludicrous claim. If every such clean up event in the world is accompanied by such a claim, then the world would be into another economic disaster. The US government already in such economic strife should dismiss such claims immediately.
Colin Brown at 19:35 on 17.03.2010
Report CommentHow does the secondary claimants got exposed or affected by the cleaning. Scam scam scam of its kind, when will Americans be real and stop trapping themselves into a ditch.
Maeda N. at 09:41 on 18.03.2010
Report CommentThese folks did not have much choice in the matter. It was the responsibilty of the employers and OSHA and FEMA, to make sure these workers had the proper personal protective equipment. THATS THE LAW!
Galileon at 11:44 on 18.03.2010
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