N002086
Saturday, January 19, 2002 6:41 PM
Victim Compensation Program - Comments on Interim Rules and
Regulations
Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
Special Master, Victim Compensation Program
U.S. Departmennt of Justice,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Feinberg:
My husband, , 28, was killed in the horrendous events of
September 11, 2001, while at work at , floor of Tower
1 at the World Trade Center. At the time, I was also working as a teacher,
and pregnant with our first child. In the trauma that followed September 11,
I had to leave my job. I also had to sell our house, which I could not
afford, having lost both of our incomes, and expecting a baby. I moved in
with my parents to conserve resources. On December 9 our baby was born, and now I must concentrate on raising her without
the benefit of my husband's company and support.
I was grateful and had a measure of hope when Congress passed the Victim
Compensation Program, reflecting the fairness and generosity of the American
people. I followed with interest the news about the Program and your
appointment. And I was dismayed when I read the Interim Rules and
Regulations and the justifications that were published. With a constructive
intent, I would like to offer the following comments to improve the workings
of the Program:
1. The Victim Compensation Program offers an alternative to suing and going
to trial, to seek compensation for wrongful death from the murderers and from
those who failed to provide protection: the U.S. government, the airlines and
the owners of the buildings and the land. As an alternative to the right to
trial, the Program's methodology for estimating the awards, as well as the
magnitude of the awards, should be similar to those followed and obtained in
court. Since by opting into the Program a claimant loses the rights to go to
trial and to appeal, the Program should offer much fairer, better defined and
guaranteed results.
2. The published methodology to arrive at the economic loss portion of the
awards is unfair and inadequate in the following ways:
a) The proposed averaging of the victim's earnings for the years 1998, 1999
and 2000 as the basis for the calculation of lost lifetime earnings,
immediately discounts the victim's earnings by 2 years worth of gains. The
logical and fair basis to begin the calculation of lost lifetime earnings,
should be the victim's earnings for the year 2001, annualized.
b) The estimated annual earning increases based on national statistics do
not reflect the typical, actual earning increases of victims in the financial
industry in New York City. At a minimum, a claimant should be able to
provide the victim's actual history of earning increases and statistics
applicable to the victim's profession and industry.
c) The victims' presumed retirement age should be the standard age 65, not
an arbitrarily assumed early retirement.
3. The pain and suffering portion of the presumptive and actual awards
should be reflective of awards reached in comparable court trials. The
published presumptive awards for pain and suffering are woefully inadequate
and inconsistent with those from court trials.
4. Life insurance is an economic remedy to protect from economic loss. If
life insurance proceeds must be deducted from the awards (highly unfair, but
stated in the statute creating the Program), then they should be deducted
ONLY from the economic loss portion of the award. Deducting life insurance
proceeds from the pain and suffering portion of the award would be an
injustice. In effect, the portion of the award attributable to pain and
suffering should be made the MINIMUM GUARANTEED AWARD.
5. The proposed deduction of Social Security and Workers Compensation
benefits is outrageous. The victims and their employers PAID for that
protection, which represents a minimum level of protection MANDATED BY LAW.
If these benefits are subtracted, one can only conclude the absurdity that
Congress did not really intend to create a Victim Compensation Program.
I appreciate your dedication to your difficult task, and look forward to
seeing improved Rules and Regulations for the Victim Compensation Program.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Manhasset, NY