Ailing 9/11 workers sue for insurance

Ailing 9/11 workers sue for insurance

07/18/07 - 12:05 PM

NEW YORK, Jul 18, 2007 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The New York City insurance fund for workers made sick by working at the rubble of the World Trade Center is being sued for non-payment.

Congress authorized the $1 billion WTC Captive Insurance Co., after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but only one worker, a man who fell off a ladder, has received payment, a Washington Post correspondent reported.

That worker received $45,000, although the insurance company has spent $74 million in overhead and fighting legal claims, the report said.

The lawsuit represents about 10,000 workers, some of whom are suffering from lung diseases and various cancers, the report said.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told the newspaper she understood the legal challenge.

"It was our intent that the money be used to protect injured workers and not swallowed up by lawyers and legal fees," Maloney said. "I never could have imagined we would end up where we are now, without one single worker compensated."

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