Victims' Families Sue Sept. 11 Fund Chief
NEW YORK - Seven families of people killed in the World Trade Center attack have sued the head of the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, accusing him of acting unfairly in calculating awards for victims' relatives.
The lawsuit alleges that Kenneth Feinberg, who is special master of the fund, has used illegal formulas to compute the monetary awards and has "alienated and disenfranchised the very constituency he was appointed to serve."
The 30-page complaint was filed Saturday in Manhattan federal court, The New York Times reported in Monday editions.
The suit contends that the fund violates state law — and shortchanges applicants — by using after-tax earnings to calculate awards. The compensation offered to families would be greater if the awards were instead based on pretax earnings, as New York law requires for wrongful death awards, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint also alleges that the fund discriminates against unmarried victims and has illegally limited the size of the awards that some high-income families can receive.
All seven plaintiffs are relatives of Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died in the Sept. 11 attack. Their suit demands changes to the rules and formulas governing the administration of the fund, but it does not seek damages.
Feinberg, who will have 60 days to respond to the lawsuit, said he had not seen the complaint and had no comment.
The fund has so far offered 154 awards, totaling $240 million, to relatives of victims.
Source: Yahoo! News