# What cause of action do 9/11 plaintiffs allege? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285 "2008-06-26T09:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/1 "2008-06-26T09:23:25Z")
I came across this article: [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=5245397](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=5245397) concerning allegations that many plaintiffs suing over 9/11 are malingerers. Nothing new in that. But what is the basis of their cause of action? From what I can make out they are suing NYC. For what? Failing to put anti-aircraft nets around the city? Permitting buildings to be made out of stuff that turned to dust when blown up? Failing to erect signs warning of the danger of terrorist incidents? I note that about half are city workers and I can perhaps understand that there would be a breach of duty of care in actively sending them into the 9/11 situation, but what about the rest? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/2 "2008-06-26T10:21:07Z")
The article doesn’t touch on this at all, but it’s possible some of them think the government either knew about 9/11 beforehand and did nothing to stop it or planned 9/11 from the beginning. The fact this makes absolutely no sense on multiple levels only makes them that much more determined. So I suppose _their_ underlying cause of action would be “I am batshit insane”. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/3 "2008-06-26T11:37:58Z")
No, there will be something more than that. This is serious litigation by proper law firms. They must have something more than batshit insane conspiracy theories. Besides which, they are not suing the US govt, they are suing the city of NY from what I can gather. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/4 "2008-06-26T12:16:52Z")
Notice this paragraph: \> Lawyers for the workers say the city should stop fighting the claims and start \> paying them. The federal government created a $1 billion insurance fund to \> handle such claims. The fund is administered by the city. In other words, the federal government has already agreed to pay people injuried from the 9/11 attacks from a fund totalling $1 billion. The question now is which of these people will receive money and how much money they will receive. Whether the money should be given to them at all is no longer in contention. (Note: Whether you like this or not is irrelevant to this legal case. The issue has already been agreed upon by all relevant parties.) The federal government has decided the city of New York will administer the fund. The city’s claim is that some of these people haven’t yet given them sufficient medical information to allow them to decide the relative amounts of injury that they have suffered. The city further claims that some of these people have suffered no significant injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/5 "2008-06-26T12:55:16Z")
So that leaves two possibilities. 1/ The plaintiffs put up a case and the Feds decide they were going to lose and so conceded liability. In which case does anyone know what that case was? 2/ The Feds decided (as an act of policy) that they were going to set up a fund for victims, motivated by charity rather than an adverse view on their own liability. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/6 "2008-06-26T13:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] So that leaves two possibilities. 1/ The plaintiffs put up a case and the Feds decide they were going to lose and so conceded liability. In which case does anyone know what that case was? 2/ The Feds decided (as an act of policy) that they were going to set up a fund for victims, motivated by charity rather than an adverse view on their own liability. Anyone know? [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Just 11 days after the terrorist attacks, Congress enacted a new statute – unprecedented in American history (or world history for that matter) – establishing generous tax-free compensation to the families who lost loved ones on the airplanes, at the World Trade Center, and in the Pentagon, as well as to those victims who were physically injured on 9/11. Signed into law by the president after little debate, the law delegated to one person practically unfettered discretion to design and administer the new program. [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial\_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/11/the\_problem\_with\_the\_911\_fund/](http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/11/the_problem_with_the_911_fund/) Here is an article about some of the 9/11 lawsuits: [Judge: 9/11 Lawsuits Can Proceed - CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/09/national/main572343.shtml) and another: > [@](#): > > Waiving federal payments of as much as $1.85 million, 10 people who lost their loved ones in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have sued several U.S. airlines and airport security firms, charging that they are responsible for their relatives’ deaths. More lawsuits, including ones against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), are expected in the wake of recent revelations that U.S. officials had received warnings about imminent terrorist attacks, and failed to properly investigate two alleged terrorists. [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/06/06/suits/](http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/06/06/suits/) But the lawsuits in this case are brought by ground zero workers who are claiming illnesses based on environmental exposure–not those injured or killed in the attack: > [@](#): > > Ailing ground zero workers went to court Tuesday to demand that the company overseeing a $1 billion Sept. 11 insurance fund spend the money to pay for their health care. > > The workers have already filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the toxic dust from the World Trade Center site gave them serious, sometimes fatal diseases. On Tuesday, they sought compensation from the WTC Captive Insurance Co., the company in charge of money appropriated by Congress to deal with Sept. 11 health-related claims. [Sick 9/11 Workers Sue WTC Insurance Fund - CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/17/health/main3066446.shtml) In other words, the dispute in the OPs linked article is like a great big, messed up, workers’ compensation suit. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/7 "2008-06-26T14:08:10Z")
Note that New York City (and every other city) spends millions of dollars every year settling “slip and fall” claims and the like which it really has no responsibility for. As claims against cities go, the workers have a pretty good one. ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/8 "2008-06-26T15:05:56Z")
Many people who make tort claims for injury are not injured. The courts are clogged with asbestos suits wherein most of the plaintiffs are not ill or can’t reasonably demonstrate their illness is a direct result of exposure to asbsestos. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/9 "2008-06-27T13:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > The courts are clogged with asbestos suits wherein most of the plaintiffs are not ill or can’t reasonably demonstrate their illness is a direct result of exposure to asbsestos. They’re sick. They have massive malignant avaritia, and they know precisely the most effective symptomatic treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cause-of-action-do-9-11-plaintiffs-allege/454285/10 "2008-06-27T13:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] As claims against cities go, the workers have a pretty good one. [/QUOTE] Especially since the claim against the city is based on its role as adminstrator of an insurance fund created for their benefit.