As I’ve noted in prior posts, one of the enduring hypocrisies facing the WTC rescue workers awaiting payment for inhaling toxic fumes amidst the rubble after 9/11 is that the WTC Insurance Fund, led by Christine LaSala, is using its mandate to fight the claims of those who need the money the most. It has been noted that tens of millions of the $1 billion that Congress handed over to the WTC Insurance Fund, to be distributed to WTC rescue workers, have instead been used to pay to outside law firms to fight the claims of those sick and dying from exposure to these toxins.
One of the most ruthless attorneys employed by the WTC Insurance Fund is James Tyrrell of the law firm Patton Boggs best known for defending the company that manufactured Agent Orange. Knowing what we now know about Christine LaSala and the WTC Insurance Fund and their corporate ethics, I’m certain he fit right in. And during the time he’s been working with the WTC Insurance Fund, he and other attorneys have managed to take $47 million of the $1 billion that Congress earmarked for paying WTC rescue workers. That means nearly 5% of the entire WTC Insurance Fund, designed to help those American heroes dying from emphysema and lung cancer after helping us recover from the most significant attack on US soil, have been spent on high priced attorneys fighting against the same plaintiffs the WTC Insurance Fund was supposed to defend. And during that time… only $45,000 has been paid out to one carpenter who fell off a ladder. If that wasn’t enough to boil the blood, lawyer Thomas Jones who serves as the WTC Insurance Fund’s secretary is also a partner at McDermott & Will law firm, which serves as the WTC Insurance Fund’s legal counsel. That is an obvious conflict of interest since McDermott & Will advises the WTC Insurance Fund on what they can and cannot legally do with the $1 Billion they have while at the same time one of their partners is working for the company they are representing. McDermott & Will can defend their man while he works within the WTC Insurance Fund denying claims for injured fire, police, and civilians.
A scandal involving so much money related to a topic so near and dear to hearts of all Americans, but especially New Yorkers, would normally be front-page news, but in this case it’s barely been touched by mainstream media. Between Tyrrell, Jones, and the other lackeys hired by Christine LaSala and the WTC Insurance Fund, $75 million has been spent fighting the claims of the WTC rescue workers. Putting yourself in the shoes of these heroes you realize what horrible odds they face as they are outspent (ironically with their own tax dollars used against them) and are in poor health. Worse yet, as we’ve seen the WTC Insurance Fund has stated that they may be looking at 2015 until money begins being paid. Christine LaSala (making $350,000 annually) and her cronies are quite rich and can afford to wait for this fight to take place. Can a fireman living off a small disability check with rising health costs afford to do the same?
As I mentioned in my last post, one of the most disturbing things about the Christine LaSala/WTC Insurance Fund fiasco is the amazing lack of coverage in the mainstream media and reaction by the government. As noted, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of the city that suffered the worst terrorist attack on American soil has taken Christine LaSala’s side by arguing that it’s necessary to use the $1 Billion that Congress granted for the WTC rescue workers to fight their claims before paying them. Fortunately for those sick and dying, not everyone in our government is on the side of Christine LaSala and the WTC Insurance Fund. Last August, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and ranking member Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania inquired with Christine LaSala about the same questions I’ve been trying to answer in this blog. Along with New York’s senators, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, finally Congress began to take some action against the inefficiency and disingenuousness of the WTC Insurance Fund and had called out Christine LaSala by name. Part of their letter included the following
As the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, we are interested in learning how and when the 9-11 clean up volunteers and workers will receive the $1 billion in tax payer money Congress appropriated for their injuries. Because we are considering calling for a hearing on this matter during the month of September, a prompt response would be appreciated.
Politics tends to move at a slow pace, but finally that hearing has come on April 1st of this year. That is a victory for the WTC rescue workers who are still agonizingly without the money that our government promised them and that Christine LaSala is using from the WTC Insurance Fund to fight against them. Nonetheless, Christine LaSala faced with proposed hearings in front of the United States Senate has still arrogantly refused to appropriate any funds to the rescue workers that are entitled to them. During this time, of course, Christine LaSala has continued to collect her $350,000 annual salary and $20,000 worth of health benefits. Within Leahy and Specter’s letter are even more troubling figures. They write that $74 million of the $1 billion has been spent on overhead and legal costs since Congress appropriated the funds for the WTC Insurance Fund. Considering this letter was written last fall, this number is probably now approaching $100 million or 10% of what was earmarked for the WTC Insurance Fund to be doled out to the WTC rescue workers. It’s maddening to think that it has taken two US Senators to bring Christine LaSala’s mismanagement to the attention of the American people. The mainstream media, including the New York papers, outside of a few examples have completely ignored this story leaving Americans unaware of what Christine LaSala is doing with their tax dollars and not doing for their fellow citizens. Even Mayor Bloomberg, who was elected by the people most affected by 9/11, hasn’t been advocating an inquiry into Christine LaSala’s management of the WTC Insurance Fund. He has chosen to argue that Congress intended the money to be used to verify the validity of the claims rather than as a victim’s compensation fund. Well, judging by the letters from two noted Congressman as well as the April 1 hearing, it’s safe to say that he’s mistaken.
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