N001902
Wednesday, January 16, 2002 4:05 PM
Fund inadequacies
It is my understanding that the Victim?s Compensation Fund was designed to
provide victims? families with an alternative to suing the airlines, thus
acting as an ?out of court? settlement. Using this as a basis, there are a
number of questionable attributes of the fund.
When someone settles out of court, I do not believe that his/her age,
marital status or income is a factor in determining the amount to be
awarded. If two people were killed in a car accident, one should not
receive more money than the next simply because he/she made more money than
the other. Also, a victim?s insurance policy and pension plan would never
be figured into a court settlement equation. I strongly feel that every
victim should be treated as equal. All of the factors that are being
juggled around in order to try to come up with a ?fair? amount for each
family are completely subjective and open to much debate.
Under the guidelines as I understand them, the most monetarily beneficial
characteristics a victim could possess include youth, money, dependent
children and little or no pension/insurance funds. At first glance, it may
seem logical and even ?fair? to use these criteria. However, after further
reflection, one could make a case for why each of these factors should not
necessarily dictate payment of more money. For example, one could argue
that just because someone was younger and had many years to work, doesn?t
mean should be awarded more money. Some hypothetical reasons might include
that his/her spouse is also likely to be young and more able to earn a
living in the future, and even, perhaps more likely to re-marry at some
point. Furthermore, no matter how many family members someone may have left
behind, that does not make it any easier for those who mourn. In fact, some
may contend that having children, although a financial responsibility, may
actually serve to ease the burden and suffering, which may otherwise had to
have been tackled alone.
While it is impossible to begin to grasp the incredible number of diverse
situations families are in, I will share my own story as an example. I lost
my father, , who worked for the of
for 35 years. He and my mother had been together since
the age of 12 and had been married for 35 years. 25 years old, I am the
middle child of three, with my younger brother at 20 and my older brother at
26. My father, who had just turned 55 years of age had planned on retiring
within months. Unfortunately, by the funds? standards, my father has more
than a couple factors working against qualifying us for funds. To start, he
didn?t make a lot of money, relatively speaking (around $60,000). Because
of his age, he would not have worked many more years. Since he did work for
for 35 years, he had a reasonably generous pension, which he had
worked so hard for his whole life. According to our calculations, our
family?s total payment under the rules as they stand would give us a
$100,000 payment. When figures ranging in the millions are being discussed,
a number so significantly lower comes as a harsh reality. I doubt anyone
would disagree that this is not nearly enough to live on for any significant
period of time, nor is it a reasonable or ?fair? compensation for my
father?s life. With the fund set up as is, we are not given a choice.
With today?s life expectancies and our culture?s lifestyle, it is accurate
to say that a major part of his life was just beginning. Now, in my
mother?s eyes, her life has ended as well.
The fund?s foundation and guidelines are simply insulting and hurtful in so
many ways and to so many people. One should never have to look up on a
chart to figure out how much their loved one is ?worth,? especially when
their value is listed side by side for comparison with the ?worth? of others
who were lost in the same tragic, devastating manner.
A set amount should be divided equally among the victims. This is not about
who needs more to live on or who would have made more money in their
lifetime. This is about trying to give a sense of closure and worth to all
of the families.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Staten Island, NY