N002673
January 15, 2002
Kenneth Feinberg, Esq.
1120 20th street
Suite 740 South
Washington, DC 20036
Re: Victims Compensation Fund
Dear Ken:
The other day the widow of a victim in the World Trade Center disaster consulted with me at my
office pertaining to what action she should take to best protect herself and her three young
infants.
I explained as well as I could what relief she might recover under your proposed interim rules.
The inequities of these rules became evident as I talked with her.
A few days later I received a letter from her expressing her dismay with the injustice foisted
upon her by the interim rules. I have taken the liberty of attaching a copy of her letter as this
letter speaks much more eloquently than I could.
Setting limitations on either earnings or awards is unacceptable to people who believe in fair
justice in our system. Bad enough the Statue deducts life insurance from the award (those who
purchase most life insurance are high wage earners with young families), but this is compounded
by the proposed rules which do not fairly give the plaintiffs recovery that they should have under
New York's death Statue.
While there are many other thoughts I and my brethren at the trial bar have pertaining to these rules, which have already been articulated to you, more significant, however, is the feeling of
victims such as Mrs. Hord, who I am sure is expressing the view of hundreds of other people
whose lives were devastated in this tragedy.
My belated congratulations on your appointment as Special Master. Knowing you I hope and
trust that the final rules you promulgate will allow justice for all families involved in this
tragedy.
My trust in you.
Looking forward to seeing you in the near future.
Best regards.
Very truly yours,
Individual Comment
New York, NY
January 13, 2002
Dear ,
Thank you for meeting with me last week. I am writing to voice my concern about the
rules for the Victim Compensation Fund. As I understand it, my family will walk away
with virtually nothing.
My husband worked for in equities on the institutional
trading desk. He went to work for them in 1997 and quickly became a Vice President, in
2000, he became a partner. worked at many financial institutions before coming
to . He was in the financial services business his entire career.
was 46 years old when he died on September 11, 2001. We were married in 1990.
Our oldest daughter is eight and our twins, a boy and a girl, are six. When and I
were both forty, we had three children under the age of two (two of which were infants).
It was not until this past summer that and I felt that we were coming up for air.
Our twins were entering their second year of all-day school. We had begun to find
rhythm in our lives and career was progressing well. When became a
partner last year, his earnings nearly doubled. In 2001, by September 11th, his upward
climb had continued.
The evening of September 10th, and I had one of our frequent conversations about
saving money. We had been so busy getting three babies out of diapers and into
elementary school as older parents, that we hadn't focused on saving money yet. With
increasing Earnings, we planned to start saving for our family's future.
Now I don't know how I will provide for my family's future the way that and I
intended. Since September 11th, I am not only broken-hearted as I do my best for our
children, but I fear for our financial future. Thankfully, even though we have no savings,
my husband was adamant about having life insurance. father died at the age of
47, leaving his five children with no savings or life insurance. He died of a heart attack
after trading his last dollar on the Chicago Board Option's Exchange. was
committed to never let his family be in that situation so he purchased life insurance.
There were times when we paid those insurance premiums when we did not have the
money to do so.
I am thankful that purchased the insurance, but I realize now that it is not nearly
enough for us to continue to live the way that we were living and planned to live in the
future. And on top of that, I look at the insurance as a penalty because it will reduce thew
amount I am able to receive from the Victim Compensation Fund, while other victims'
families without insurance either because they have other savings or were not responsible
will receive more money from the Fund than we will. would be horrified to learn
that his diligent efforts to be a responsible father and husband and provide for his family
will reduce the amount that we will receive from the Fund. This makes no sense.
I understand that the insurance restrictions cannot be changed because it was written into
the legislation. But I don't understand why there is a cap on potential yearly earnings.
This seems like a double whammy to me. We have income limits that are significantly
below what earned on one side and the penalty of having insurance on the other
side. The limitations on both sides will squeeze us so that we are not likely to benefit
from the Fund at all. If there has to be a cap on potential yearly earnings, I would think
the cap would be more closely aligned with the yearly earnings of the September 11th
victims. I don't understand why a national economic statistic is being used. My
husband pursued a career that clearly would have resulted in him earning considerably
more than the national averages. My husband's career was finally taking off after a long
climb. We live in New York and have been living our lives based on our expectation that
would continue to increase his earnings over the next twenty years. The cap on
potential yearly earnings to a national average means my children and I will never come
close to living the life was already providing for us.
If I look at the proposed Fund compensation table that most closely approximates my
situation, I see that the compensation for a victim who was the same age as who
earned $50,000 a year will be 20 times his/her annual income. If had not had
insurance, our compensation from the Fund would be just five times income.
After deducting insurance, our compensation will be just one times
income. This does not seem fair.
I understand that New York law allows for compensation for loss of parental care
and guidance to children in wrongful death cases. I don't understand why the Fund
compensation calculation does not provide for this. I will do everything I can to provide
my three children all the care, support, and love that I can. But my children will never
again have a father to cheer them on at sports, take walks with them on family outings,
and teach them to be as loyal, caring and committed as he was. In addition, my husband
will not be able to share in the educational and business decisions our children will make
as they go though life.
I hope that the Fund rules are changed to provide for more equitable compensation to the
families of the victims. Thank you again for the time you spent with me last week
Sincerely,
Individual Comment