Lawyers for the city and more than
11,000 Ground Zero rescue and cleanup workers reached a tentative settlement tonight
that will give them as much as $657 million. The proposal, presented today to Manhattan federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, must be approved by 95 percent of the firefighters, cops, medics and hardhats — many of whom were sickened by working in the toxic debris. Each worker whose illness is confirmed would get a sum based on the type and severity of his or her medical problem.
Special masters appointed by Hellerstein and lawyers for both sides have worked up "severity charts" that would grade individual conditions on a scale from zero to four — and determine the amount paid to each worker.
Individual payments could run as high as $1 million, according to one lawyer.
In addition, some would get an insurance policy to cover Ground Zero-related illnesses that have not yet developed.
Those who claim to have physical illnesses that have not been confirmed by doctors would collect $3,200 — the minimum payment.
People with stress related and other psychological problems would not be compensated.
The city’s payouts would come from the WTC Captive Insurance Co., a nonprofit controlled by Mayor Bloomberg
that manages $1 billion provided by Congress.
It has already spent more than $275 million on lawyers and administrative expenses to fight claims – but made most of it back in interest and payments from private insurers.
The approximately $350 million left after the $657 million is paid would be held to pay those whose diseases develop later.
The deal is a major breakthrough in the complex legal wrangling that has been going on since 2004.
But the city fund is only one pot of money the workers are going after.
The settlement would not necessarily end their suits against the Port Authority, which has
$600 million worth of insurance coverage.
"There’s hundreds of millions more," the lawyer said. "This is just the beginning."
The settlement plan comes as the first 12 trials of sick workers are set to begin on May 16.
Jennifer McNamara, whose firefighter husband, John, died of cancer in August, said she would have to learn more about the terms before deciding on her vote.
"No amount of money is going to compensate me for what I’ve been through, and no amount of money is going to bring my husband back," said McNamara.
"My hope would be that [the settlements] would help people who are still alive and need the money to survive," said McNamara, whose son, Jack, just turned 3.
John McNamara, of Ladder Co. 123 in Crown Heights, spent 500 hours in the rubble searching for fallen comrades.
"I think its shameful that it took this many years, until the eve of the first trials, before they were willing to have this kind of discussion," she said.
A disabled 9/11 responder, ex-NYPD cop Christopher Baumann, also had mixed feelings.
"You know how many people have died waiting? There are people not taking the proper medication because they can’t afford it," the father of two said..
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City lawyers, Ground Zero rescue & cleanup reach tentative $657M agreement - NYPOST.com