The projected compensation for Sept. 11 attack victims was described yesterday as “justice on the cheap,” as protesters bemoaned the low settlement expected to be offered to victims’ families.
U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) and Families of Sept. 11 President Carie Lemack, daughter of American Airline Flight 11 passenger Judy Larocque, were joined by concerned family members of victims to express disapproval of the fund.
Congress created the Sept. 11 Victims’ Compensation Fund to provide families of victims with damage payments for both loss of wages and services rendered, as well as for pain and suffering.
“We intended the fund to provide full, fair, individualized and easily accessible compensation,” Meehan said.
Despite the intentions of Congress, Meehan said the fund does not fulfill the hopes of those legislators who pushed for it.
“With its interim rules on the fund, the Department [of Justice] has failed all of us,” he said.
Meehan said the not-yet-final rules limit the presumed non-economic damage award to $250,000 per victim, with a $50,000 award to each spouse and dependent. By accepting compensation from the fund, a family waves its right to sue the airline for wrongful death claims.
The fund was intended to provide a faster alternative to the often-extended judicial process of a wrongful death lawsuit. After the economic crisis following the attacks, Congress capped the industry’s legal liability.
While Lemack, a Framingham resdient, said she and her sister are struggling to pay their mother’s mortgage and other debts, compensation from the fund cannot help them. She and her sister are no longer dependents, and their mother recently divorced.
“We would receive nothing from the fund,” Lemack said.
According to Lemack, her case is not unique, as the stipulation affects many other families.
Under the current rules, the payment from life insurance policies held by victims will be deducted from the fund payment.
“For a lot of people, those deductions are quite significant,” Lemack said.
Christine Coombs, whose husband Jeff perished on American Airlines Flight 11, said the current fund rules contradict its purpose.
“What the fund does is take everything away from us,” said Coombs, who resides in Abington. “That life insurance policy doesn’t go a long way.”
The families present yesterday said they want fair compensation, which Meehan outlined in a lengthy letter written to Department of Justice Special Master Kenneth Feinberg, the Georgetown University legal professor appointed to administer the fund.
While he said the airline industry bailout, which included the fund’s creation, was not a mistake, Meehan said new rules must be sought.
“We need new rules that take into consideration the losses, the pain and suffering,” he said.
Tina Fisher, a Weymouth resident who lost her brother, John, said the money provided under the fund would not be enough for her brother’s family. Fisher was an electrical engineer at the World Trade Center and a father of seven.
“They froze al Qaeda’s assets,” Fisher said. “Why don’t they give us that money?”
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