9/11 Lawsuits Set to Proceed for Victims’ Families

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The families of 41 victims of the September 11th attacks are finally having their day in court. A trial date has been set for September 24th to hear the first six of 41 cases still pending after the attacks of six years ago. Originally comprised of 95 lawsuits, 53 of the cases have been settled, and one has been dismissed.

Though the federal government paid out nearly $6 billion dollars to compensate 2880 victims of the attack, some families chose not to accept the money, deciding to sue instead. The various defendants include American and United airlines, the New York and New Jersey Port Authorities, and companies that manufacture airplanes, such as Boeing.

The federal compensation fund payouts represented approximately 97 percent of 9/11 victims, and was set up to avoid the financial ruin of airlines by discouraging lawsuits.

The plaintiffs’ reasons for pursuing lawsuits are varied. Some say they just want the defendants to admit to liability, some want a measure of justice. Others just want closure, and say this will do it for them. Some of the families admit that the federal compensation money amount didn’t seem fair to them.

The Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund based their awards on, among other factors, the victims’ earning power, and whether or not they had left behind any dependents. Families of children, the elderly, or childless adults would not have received as much money as others.

The family of 11-year-old Asia Cottom say it’s not fair to value one life over another because of age or earning power. "How do you justify, okay, an 11-year-old is worth two dollars, but because you’re the pilot of that plane, that’s worth two million?" asks Michelle Cottom, Asia’s mother. Asia was a passenger on American Airlines flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

The judge who will preside over the first six of these lawsuits, U.S. Disctrict judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, has decided to hear the damages portion of these suits first, before the liability phase of the cases. The reason for this is that the award amounts, if any, will set precedents that will serve as guidelines for settlement possibilities, potentially reducing the number of cases that will actually go to trial.

"[The plaintiffs] will benefit from damages trials that will suggest a range of values that a jury is likely to award in similar cases, enabling the parties to bridge their difference of valuation," said Judge Hellerstein to reporters.

It the parties can’t agree to settle, they will continue to the liability phase of the trial.

The judge met with the plaintiffs, with permission from all parties, before deciding how to proceed. He told reporters that he felt many of the victims’ families simply wanted to feel a sense of closure by pursuing the lawsuits.

"[This will] hasten the resolution of these any many other cases and thus be a significant step in mending the wounds left open by the terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11th, 2001," added the judge.