Judge Grants 9/11 Health Settlement for Workers, First Responders

June 11, 2010 -- Thousands of first responders, firefighters and construction workers sickened by toxic rubble at Ground Zero could share in a settlement of up to $712.5 million announced Thursday, three months after a federal judge said a previous deal did not pay victims enough.

U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein gave preliminary approval to the settlement of a 7-year-old lawsuit against the city by nearly 10,000 people who suffered illnesses from exposure to dust and debris at the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attacks. The new settlement cuts lawyers' fees by $50 million.

"It's about time," said Joe Picurro, an ironworker who volunteered to work in the rubble and is now disabled by lung disease. "I've got maybe two years left in me. ... I'm 43 years old, and I've got the lungs of a 95-year-old."

Hellerstein rejected a March settlement that would have paid $575 million to $657 million to victims. The new settlement added $125 million to the amount for victims, which will mostly go to the sickest people.

"It's a good deal," Hellerstein said Thursday and urged injured workers to accept it. "It's not perfect, but it's very, very good."

Lawyers in the case had appealed Hellerstein's rejection of the earlier settlement, arguing he did not have the authority to set terms. Thursday, Hellerstein said his actions were unusual but a case with 10,000 plaintiffs "just begs for judicial supervision."

Kenneth Feinberg — who administered the victim's compensation fund for families of those who died in the attacks — will oversee individual settlements.

For the settlement to go into effect, 95 percent of the plaintiffs must agree to it by Sept. 30.

"We are hopeful that by the end of the year, the great majority of the money will have been paid out," said Marc Bern, a lawyer whose firm represents more than 9,000 of the plaintiffs.

The settlement would pay $3,250 each to workers who aren't sick but fear they could become so. Plaintiffs will get a cancer insurance policy.