A Billion Dollars Just Isn't Enough

After years of haggling and arguing to toss the lawsuit of 9,000 9/11 workers who have been injured as a result of their heroism after the Towers fell, the city is looking to negotiate a deal. NYC is talking about doling out a billion dollars. It sounds like a lot, but when you divide it by 9,000, you only get $111,111 per person and that is supposed to cover the medical costs for their lifetimes. That also excludes what death benefits would be given to the families that have lost roughly 150 people to the resulting diseases borne out of that toxic air. So what's chief lawyer Marc Bern to do?

From The Daily News:

Bern's clients have until the end of the month to decide whether to give him permission to begin settlement talks for them. Those who don't can continue their own litigation, but there's a good chance that Bern's firm won't handle their case.

"If we receive an aggregate settlement offer from the defendants, it will be up to you and our other clients to accept or reject the offer and, if you accept it, to agree on how the [money] would be divided," Bern wrote. "The defendants would have nothing to do with that decision."

It is a sad day when I have to agree with Bern's logic. He is fighting for justice for these people and because of the system, real monetary damages would take years or decades. The victims need some form of restitution now. Medical bills for lung diseases are expensive and a hundred thousand dollars or more would help, at least in the short term.

Ideally the federal government would have helped out more with these victims and their families, but you have to remember who is in charge at the moment down there in D.C.