City’s 9/11 Insurer Attempting To Deny Responders $37.5 Million Payment

New York, New York, February 2, 2011, For Immediate Release: Mayor Bloomberg’s hired guns and The WTC Insurance Co., Inc., the specially-created insurance carrier for claims by 9/11 First Responders against the City of New York, filed a motion Monday that seeks to have the Court deny Ground Zero claimants an additional “incentive” payment of $37.5 million that they are entitled to receive under the Settlement Agreement that resolves their litigation, based on a claimed technicality in the agreement.

The City’s motion asks the Court to set aside its own prior order dismissing claims by non-responsive plaintiffs. These ordered dismissals, according to the Court’s prior order, would reduce the number of plaintiffs entitled to claim a settlement in the litigation, thus increasing the relative percent of claimants who opted in to the settlement. The settlement agreement provides that each percent point of plaintiffs opting in to the settlement over the threshold of 95% increases the overall payments by millions of additional dollars.

Asked for comment, Plaintiffs’ lead attorney Paul Napoli said “it’s really a shame that the Captive Insurance Company and Mayor Bloomberg, who controls the Captive and the City’s legal team, have chosen to undermine the purpose and spirit of this historic settlement, once again turning their backs on these 9/11 heroes. Instead of agreeing to the dismissals, the City wants to have its cake and eat it too; the Mayor has accepted the dismissals of these plaintiffs’ claims, but wants to deny the remaining plaintiffs the additional payments they deserve and bargained for in the settlement agreement. As a result, the most seriously injured Tier 4 plaintiffs will get less money and the City will still get its entire reward, i.e., the settlement of the claims against it at the expense of the 9/11 heroes.”

Contact Information

Paul J. Napoli

Senior Partner

Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, LLP

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