Sept. 11 Victim's Compensation Fund Deadline Nears and Decisions Loom

by David Tamasi

WASHINGTON - In the two years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, victims' families have coped not only with devastating grief, but with a very difficult choice: whether to seek financial damages through a fund established by Congress or through the courts.

So wrenching is the choice that most have put it off, almost until the last minute. Victims who were injured in the attacks and, in most cases, the families of those who died have until Dec. 22 to file claims with the federal Victim Compensation Fund. If they do, they lose their right to sue, and possibly a chance to collect more money.

Ninety-three Massachusetts residents died in the attacks, yet only 28 victims' families - fewer than one-third -- have filed claims with the victim compensation fund, according to Camille Barris, assistant to the director of the fund. While 41 Merrimack Valley area residents died, Barris was unable to say how many of their survivors had filed claims.

Lee and Eunice Hanson, from Easton, Conn. lost their son, Peter, daughter in law, Sue and a 2-year-old granddaughter Christine Lee, all from Groton, on United Airlines flight 175, the second airplane to crash into the World Trade Center. The Hansons submitted a claim to the victim compensation fund and are awaiting a reply. But they understand why others have not done so.

"It drives you crazy to have to face it. There is so much grief and you are not able to start the paperwork," Lee Hanson said in a telephone interview. "I really hope people do submit the paperwork before the deadline, but it is just so difficult."

He said he believed the small number of people who had filed for compensation stemmed more from grief than with a desire to pursue potentially higher economic awards through civil litigation.

"I do not believe people are weighing the pros and cons of whether to file with the fund or a separate civil lawsuit," Lee Hanson said.

Yet a decidedly different rationale was given by Carie Lemack, whose mother Judy Larocque was killed aboard American Airlines flight 11, the first plane to strike the World Trade Center. Lemack also serves as vice president of Families of September 11, a nonprofit organization founded by families of victims to promote policies that would prevent further terrorist attacks and improve the public response to them.

Lemack said that Kenneth Feinberg, appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft to oversee the fund, has "made it a fund based on need rather than loss, which was not Congress's intent. Mr. Feinberg determines the need and there is no appeal of his decision. That is a lot of power for one person to hold."

President Bush signed a law creating the Victim Compensation Fund 12 days after the terrorist attacks. It was included in legislation that provided financial aid to the airline industry. The fund offers compensation to people who were injured or to relatives of those killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or on a flight downed over Shanksville, Pa.

The $3 billion fund pays victims and their families based on a complicated formula based largely on economic losses. So far, victims' families have received awards ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million, according to Leo V. Boyle, President of Trial Lawyer's Care, which provides free legal services to the families.

The fund caps non-economic losses - primarily for pain and suffering -- at $250,000.

Of the 3,016 people identified as having died in the terrorist attacks, the families of only 41 percent have filed claims with the Victim Compensation Fund, Boyle said.

Boyle attributed much of the delay to the difficulty of applying for compensation. The fund requires extensive documentation and completion of a 25-page victim compensation form.

"Filings with the victim's compensation fund will be hundreds of pages and are quite detailed," said Boyle, a long-time Boston attorney. "Only a tiny amount of people, 69 or 70 have filed civil lawsuits against the airlines or the [Massachusetts] Port Authority." The Port Authority controls flights departing Logan International Airport, including the two that slammed into the World Trade Center.

Feinberg reportedly has asked members of Congress to help him spread the word to victims' families of the looming cutoff date for filing claims. In addition, Feinberg plans to travel across the country this month to conduct informational meetings with victims' relatives. He will visit Boston on Sept. 22.

Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, said that the victim compensation fund was flawed because it does not provide large enough awards for pain and suffering and because it subtracts life insurance payments from potential awards. For example, if a victims' family is granted $1.2 million from the fund but paid $1 million in life insurance, it actually would receive $200,000 from the fund.

"I met with Kenneth Feinberg after having spoken with victims in my district," said Meehan. "I told him that a large number of people would not file because the fund was not fair or generous enough to victims."

Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, said that his office had heard from victims' families expressing concerns about the fund and relayed them to Feinberg.

"I had contact with Feinberg back when the fund was being finalized," said Tierney. "We have not heard anything from his office recently."

A spokesperson for Congressman Charles Bass, R-Concord, said that Bass had received only general correspondence from Feinberg's office regarding the fund.

"We have not been asked to do anything specific, in terms of outreach," said spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts.

Feinberg did not return repeated phone calls for comment.

Linda Plazonja, executive director of Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, Inc., which raises money for free legal, financial and counseling services to victims' families, said there were a multitude of reasons, including grief, that a family might delay a decision.

"It is a very personal decision for people to make, especially when they are grieving," said Plazonja. "Families must conduct a complete financial analysis and every person's situation is unique."

Although the Victim Compensation Fund does offset for life insurance payments, it does not do so for charitable contributions. As a result, Sept 11 funds have emerged throughout the country to assist those who have suffered economic hardship.

An estimated $1.3 billion had been raised by last spring nationally, and about $5.4 million was distributed to Massachusetts families, according to the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund. That fund donated $513,000 in March 2002 and is gearing up for another round of contributions, according to its web site.

Meehan himself created the Marty Meehan Educational Fund, which has handed out 28 scholarships at $15,000 apiece for 13 families. The money pays for tuition, student loans and grief counseling. Grandchildren of victims also are eligible to collect money from that fund.

Boyle, of the Trial Lawyer's Care, said his group is urging victims' families to seek money from the Victim Compensation Fund before it is too late.

"This event transcends every other experience in human history and it is extremely difficult for people to relive it," Boyle said. "Many hundreds have filed with the fund and I believe hundreds more will."