Most Families Seek 9/11 Aid

As a midnight Monday deadline approached, more than 92% of the families eligible for aid from the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund had come forward to request federal assistance, capping an unexpected surge of applications in recent weeks, program administrators said.

The desire to settle -- and forgo the right to file lawsuits against the airlines and others -- means that the onslaught of litigation many had predicted after the terrorist attacks is unlikely to materialize.

“This compensation program has turned into a dramatic success,” said Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg, who oversees the $6-billion fund that was created by Congress to help families and spare airlines from crippling lawsuits.

There were 2,731 applications filed, on behalf of slain victims, as of late Monday out of an official death total of 2,976. An additional 3,146 people who were hurt in the attacks also had filed injury claims, Feinberg said. Administrators were feverishly making phone calls and using other outreach methods to bring in more claimants by the deadline, he said.

Less than five weeks ago, barely half of the eligible victims’ families had applied. The last-minute rush took place because those eligible realized that “the money was easily available to them, and there were absolutely no gimmicks involved here,” Feinberg said.

Applicants also may have been swayed by the fund’s projected final average payment of $1.8 million per family, and the realization that filing litigation -- which would disqualify them from aid -- was a risky process that could take years to resolve. As of Monday, officials said, only 73 lawsuits had been entered against airlines or other parties.

Under the compensation effort, families receive assistance based on a victim’s age, future earning potential and myriad other factors. The federal program has made 1,800 payments so far, totaling roughly $1.5 billion, Feinberg said. The highest award so far has been $6.8 million and the lowest $250,000.

It hasn’t been easy getting people to participate, he conceded, noting that many family groups were angered that the program required them to file extensive paperwork and put a dollar value on their loved one’s life. In another controversial provision, the Justice Department-run program subtracts the value of a victim’s life insurance policy, pension and other personal benefits before making a final award.

As the deadline drew near, many family members wrestled with the decision to file a claim or pursue litigation. Some felt that if most people took the federal aid, the airlines would escape accountability for what had happened on Sept. 11, when hijacked jetliners crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. And they scoffed at the idea that accepting a compensation check from the federal government provided any emotional closure for them.

“I guess I was one of the last ones to file my application, on the last day,” said Marion Fontana; her husband, Dave, was a New York firefighter killed at the World Trade Center. “I can’t remember a more insulting task, going through every single tax return we ever filed, providing documentation that my husband lived and died.”

For months, Fontana fought the idea of applying for the money, angered that she and other victims’ families still have not been told the full story of who was responsible for the deaths of so many people. She remains suspicious that the deadline came long before a final federal commission investigating the causes and responsibility for the terrorist attacks.

“I felt we all [victims families] had a right to the money,” she said, explaining her decision to file. “But this dredged the whole thing up all over again. It never ends.”

For all the emotional difficulties that many families experience, seeking federal compensation makes sense for the vast majority, said Larry Stewart, a Florida-based attorney who helped create Trial Lawyers Care, a group that has offered free legal assistance to those who apply for compensation.

Unless they had large life insurance policies and death benefits that would be subtracted from the federal award, he explained, the compensation was generous. As the deadline neared, he added, many finally focused on the task and applied for aid. Participants were free to withdraw from the program if they felt the amount given them was too low.

“I’m not surprised by the 92% figure, because I think many people finally realized that even if they went ahead with litigation, there was no assurance they could win,” Stewart said.

For some families, however, the decision to seek aid remains difficult, if not impossible. Grief continues to paralyze many, and there are hundreds of immigrants who fear deportation if they were to come forward, Feinberg said. Federal officials have said that there would not be any such repercussions for these individuals.

Still others chafe at the notion that federal money could make them whole -- or buy their silence. Irene Golinski, whose husband, Ron -- an Army colonel -- died at the Pentagon, said she is leaning toward filing a lawsuit to recover damages.

“It’s not about money, it’s about accountability,” she said. There would be no answers if she took a federal check, Golinski explained, and litigation -- however uncertain -- might pry loose information about the airlines and other involved parties.

“When they [federal administrators] set up tables and graphs to show how much you might be getting, it becomes very distasteful,” Golinski said. “I don’t think my husband would want me to be quiet, to keep silent about this whole tragedy.”

Keith Franz, a Baltimore attorney representing families whose loved ones died at the Pentagon, said Golinski and others add up to a “strikingly small number of people” pursuing litigation. He predicted the total number of lawsuits would be about 125.

“I think the case for liability is a compelling one in the case of 9/11 families, and I think we can prove negligence against airlines and other parties,” Franz said.

“But the compensation fund provides a quick and sure remedy for many more people,” he added. “We shouldn’t be surprised that so many have asked for the aid.”