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NYC Settles World Trade Center Cases

danarhea

danarhea

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NEW YORK (AP) - New York City has agreed to pay up to $657 million to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits filed by ground zero rescue and response workers who say they were sickened by World Trade Center dust.

The settlement was announced Thursday evening by the WTC Captive Insurance Company, a special entitity established to idemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site.
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I think I need to defer to RightInNYC on this one, since I don't understand the rationale behind the settlement. NYC did not create the dust that caused first responders to be sickened. Terrorists did. Did NYC send the responders into harms way knowingly? That is all I can think of, but if they were trying to save lives, then aren't they doing their job by taking risks?

At any rate, I don't understand the decision to settle. Hopefully, someone can help me with that.

Article is here.
 
danarhea said:
I think I need to defer to RightInNYC on this one, since I don't understand the rationale behind the settlement. NYC did not create the dust that caused first responders to be sickened. Terrorists did. Did NYC send the responders into harms way knowingly? That is all I can think of, but if they were trying to save lives, then aren't they doing their job by taking risks?

At any rate, I don't understand the decision to settle. Hopefully, someone can help me with that.

Article is here.
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Is there an election in NYC soon?
 
Im sure the responders have a health plan from the state and/or city, maybe they felt they werent getting what was agreed on in the contract.
 
Wiseone said:
Im sure the responders have a health plan from the state and/or city, maybe they felt they werent getting what was agreed on in the contract.
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Then wouldn't that be the fault of the insurance company, and not the city, if it were true?
 
I think its more of a procedural way for these claims to get paid than a lawsuit really trying to punish the city. It looks like the money for the settlements is almost entirely coming from the federal government, but just via this settlement method.
 
Clearly these law suits will make the Lawyers rich and those who are really in trouble from not having adequate breathing gear are going to get a pittance in comparison.

I don't believe there are 10,000 Survive-Air packs in the State of NY and the proper respirators were no where to be seen. People were wearing cheap flimsy little dust masks that only stop big particles not micro dust.

There were many HEROES who have already past on from the dust. I hope this money will get to those who need it and it helps them out.

Being a HERO can be dangerous, and most of these people only wanted to help.

My hat's off to them they made me even more proud to be an American.
 
They should hold out for more. This miserly first offer won't cover their future healthcare costs under the present system.
 
Manc Skipper said:
They should hold out for more. This miserly first offer won't cover their future healthcare costs under the present system.
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What exactly are you basing this on? From all appearances, they've been pretty good about this beginning to end. It's probably the absolute last thing that any politician ever wants to be seen as opposing.
 
Manc Skipper said:
They should hold out for more. This miserly first offer won't cover their future healthcare costs under the present system.
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If future medical bills become a problem, we'll kick them some more money.
 
RightinNYC said:
What exactly are you basing this on? From all appearances, they've been pretty good about this beginning to end. It's probably the absolute last thing that any politician ever wants to be seen as opposing.
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My question is why should they get any money at all? I don't want to seem cold hearted here, but shouldn't their medical insurance cover their injuries? Was it the fault of NYC that they chose to work in jobs that were considered dangerous?

I don't know about anyone else, but in the private sector, when employers provide insurance, the insurance pays out, not the taxpayers. IMHO, I believe that this decision came about due to political expediency, rather than common sense. I could be wrong, though. If I am, please show me where.
 
danarhea said:
My question is why should they get any money at all? I don't want to seem cold hearted here, but shouldn't their medical insurance cover their injuries? Was it the fault of NYC that they chose to work in jobs that were considered dangerous?

I don't know about anyone else, but in the private sector, when employers provide insurance, the insurance pays out, not the taxpayers. IMHO, I believe that this decision came about due to political expediency, rather than common sense. I could be wrong, though. If I am, please show me where.
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I don't know about how this relates to insurance, but I think the general idea behind why the city/fed gov are paying for it is that after 9/11, the city and federal government put out a call for workers to come help and clear the rubble. They never mentioned that the rubble was incredibly toxic, so thousands of people helped out and are now sick because of that. This is the city/fed gov's way of paying their expenses for that.
 
IIRC Hillary Clinton expressed concern about the toxic dust at the time, but the Bush EPA made a statement denying any risk.
 
Councilman said:
Clearly these law suits will make the Lawyers rich and those who are really in trouble from not having adequate breathing gear are going to get a pittance in comparison.

I don't believe there are 10,000 Survive-Air packs in the State of NY and the proper respirators were no where to be seen. People were wearing cheap flimsy little dust masks that only stop big particles not micro dust.

There were many HEROES who have already past on from the dust. I hope this money will get to those who need it and it helps them out.

Being a HERO can be dangerous, and most of these people only wanted to help.

My hat's off to them they made me even more proud to be an American.
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Here here.

Tax the victims for the unfortunate circumstance of events beyond their control.

If a fireman is burned rescuing people from a building aflame, should he sue?

Bad precident. The state doesn't "have" money. New Yorkers pay taxes.
Economic Crisis Hinders Fire Department Funding, Survey Says | Supporting Safer Communities: A National Fire Service Survey - FIRE CHIEF article

Bully. Good job Justice Dept.
 
obsequious said:
If a fireman is burned rescuing people from a building aflame, should he sue?

.
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Two words answer can answer your question: Worker's Compensation

You are legally able to be paid restorative measures for any injury sustained in the line of work.
 
Judge Orders Renegotiation of 9/11 Deal - WSJ.com

A federal judge has rejected a multimillion-dollar legal settlement for people sickened by dust from the World Trade Center.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in court Friday that the deal to compensate 10,000 police officers, firefighters and other laborers didn't include enough money for the workers.
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Everyone in that line of work knows you have to have a lot of safety preparation before you jump into such a dangerous situation. God knows what was in the air.

People in the DEQ and the EPA did not keep quiet about this. They raised hell I'm sure and were ignored. I called Mary Landrieu, my senator, about this myself.
 
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