The New York Disability Law Blog : New York Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Turley, Redmond & Rosasco : Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, Staten Island

While I am sure that most of the general public has heard about last week's potential $657 million settlement for 9/11 First Responders ( including volunteers), do you want to read the entire 95 page  World Trade Center Settlement Process Agreement ? In addition to the agreement, there are attached to the agreement multiple Exhibits A  through U  (click here and here for examples)which put the total page count in the multiple hundreds of pages. 

Thankfully, the over 10,000 first responders have been given 90 days dissect this important document before the must vote to approve or disapprove the proposed settlement.  Awards to individuals or families could range anywhere from a high of over one million dollars to a low of $3,200.00, with an expected average award according to news reports to be in the $50,000 - $60,000 range.  Finally, U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein must also approve of both the settlement agreement and the amount of attorneys fees. 

As most of my readers know, I have been covering 9/11 workers' compensation and litigation  developments on this blog for over five years now.  After the announcement of the proposed settlement last Thursday night, my office has received another rush of calls. Many want to know if it is too late to join this lawsuit now as plaintiffs.

The answer is "No", it's not too late.  However, time is short for attorneys to review new client medical records for eligibility and make the appropriate claim,if any.  If you have yet to sign up for this litigation and you were a first responder or volunteer who worked at Ground Zero, now may be your last chance to join this potential settlement.  Remember - this lawsuit is separate and apart from any New York Workers Compensation claim you may have in the past, currently or in the future.

Since last Thursday, I have taken numerous phone calls from first responders and/or volunteers with serious lung conditions or cancers who never knew about the existence of this lawsuit. I encourage all  first responders or volunteers who have been diagnosed with a condition potentially related to their exposure to dust and toxins at Ground Zero, and have not already signed on to this lawsuit (you probably would have signed a formal 1/3 retainer agreement), to contact an attorney today.

Readers of this blog can always call me toll free at 1-877-NY-DBLAW (1-877-693-2529) , extension 123 with any questions. Let's hope that this proposed settlement brings some closure for sick first responders and their loved ones. They deserve it.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Carrie Mason-Draffen is the excellent Workplace Columnist for Newsday and I have been glad to help her over the years with questions from her readers on Social Security disability claims and New York workers compensation claims. Her most recent column in which I was quoted had to do with when a non-working spouse can obtain Social Security benefits. 

Disabled Widow's/Widowers Benefits can be collected on the deceased spouse's earnings record if the disabled widow is: 1)  disabled within 7 years of the deceased worker's death and is between the ages of 50 - 60 when she becomes disabled and 2) was married to the deceased worker for at least 10 years (even if they were divorced prior to the onset of disability).

For example, Joan was married to Jim between 1990 to 2000 (10 years).  Jim dies in 2005 of a heart attack. In 2010, Joan is currently age 52 and becomes disabled by multiple sclerosis. If Joan either never worked (perhaps a stay-at-home Mom) or her work record would produce a smaller disability benefit than on her ex-spouses work record (he was highly paid executive), she can apply for Disabled Widows' Benefits.

This is an often over-looked benefit by many widows/widowers (especially divorced ones who have no reason to go to one of the the Social Security District offices here on Long Island after the death of an ex-spouse) and the help of an experienced Social Security Disability Claim lawyer  can be invaluable in this situation.  

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Photo courtesy of NY Daily News

Whoever thought that a seemingly harmless job at Dunkin Donuts in Smithtown could cause the death of a 17-year old student in his prime? As reported in Newsday, Amiri Zeqiri fell into a cesspool after a metal cover collapsed while he was walking to dump garbage behind the Donut shop.

The bizarre accident is reminds me of the sad death last year on Long Island of the Walmart employee who was trampled by a crowd of over eager customers in Valley Stream. You would not normally think of Walmart as an exceedingly dangerous place to work either, but workers compensation lawyers like myself deal with such unusual death claims on a regular basis. 

So what, if anything, is the family of this young man entitled to from the workers compensation system for the loss of his life? Unfortunately, not much. Assuming he has left no dependents, his life under the New York Workers' Compensation Law is worth a meager $50,000 payable to his estate. In addition, the insurance carrier for Dunkin Donut's will have to pay $6,000 toward his funeral bill (this is the maximum allowed under the law currently, although funerals on Long Island are currently costing at least double that amount). 

So initially, regardless of the family's current financial status, they are going to have to come up with big bucks just to bury their loved one, and wait months for only partial reimbursement through the workers' compensation system.  This obviously just adds insult to injury. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Amiri Zeqiri's family.  However, we are glad that Suffolk County homicide detectives continue to investigate why the sewer cover collapsed. Certainly, the owner of the property, JKH Realty Group in Queens (no stranger to Town of Smithtown violations) , has a lot of explaining to do.

But for the time being, let us all remember that there are no "safe" workplaces here in New York, even if its just the local donut shop.  

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks