9/11 Rescue Workers Accept $625 Million Settlement
More than 95% of 9/11 responders who sued the city have accepted a $625 million settlement – meeting the number needed to seal the deal, officials announced Friday.
City officials said 10,043 plaintiffs who claim they were sickened by toxins at Ground Zero accepted the deal. About 98% of the plaintiffs who are the sickest signed on.
The plaintiffs’ payouts are determined by the severity of their illnesses.
“This settlement is a fair and just resolution of these claims, protecting those who came to the aid of this City when we needed it most,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
“We will continue our commitment to treatment and monitoring of those who were present at Ground Zero.
“This settlement can also help encourage the Senate to follow the lead of their colleagues in the House of Representatives and pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which will now be a less expensive proposition due to the payments made under this settlement agreement.”
If less than 95% approved the deal, it would have been scuttled. Plaintiffs would have been forced to to individually pursue lawsuits, which could have taken years.
Many of the emergency workers and cleanup workers who opted in said they didn’t think the settlement was high enough, but recognized it was the best deal they would probably get.
“It has been my personal and professional mission to ensure that we negotiate a settlement that is fair and reasonable to all sides and I am extremely heartened that the overwhelming majority of plaintiffs have decided that is exactly what we achieved,” said Christine LaSala, President and CEO of the WTC Captive Insurance Company.
“I hope that this settlement will bring closure to the heroes on both sides of this litigation who did their best to repair this City and restore this community in those difficult days and months following 9/11.”
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