Compensation when Families Need it Most

                   

                                                  danieldubank.wordpress.com       

             Their house didn’t stand out in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  It was surrounded by rows of homes that all had the same light brick siding and little black gates often equipped with American flags swirling in the wind.  On a day where the sun was beaming through the fibers of the flag and children were dancing in their front yards, I half expected a mother to bring a tray of lemonade out — it almost looked too American, a brutal reminder that even when tragedy strikes, life keeps on going, even if that means without a husband, a father or a best friend.

            Ten years ago, Matt Berman left his house for work at the NYPD’s 68^th precinct, just as his grandfather and father did years before.  That day, he left with his brother who was also a fellow NYPD officer.  An hour after he arrived at work, he and all others on duty were called into Manhattan after the first World Trade Tower was struck.  Berman and his team arrived shortly after the second tower was hit and quickly started helping people escape the buildings.  Just a couple of short hours later Berman died in the collapse of the second tower, leaving his wife and two children without income.  Luckily, through social security benefits, PSOB (Public Safety Officers Benefits) and the September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund, Berman’s family, with countless others, were able to keep living.

            “I’m not sure what I would have done if it weren’t for the PSOB and Victim Compensation Fund” said Julie Berman a then stay-at-home-mom.  “We would have been on the streets no doubt.”  Now a second grade teacher, she still uses the PSOB for her two children and their college education fund. 

            Likely, family members who have suffered the death of a loved one who was killed on the job at anytime, not just September 11^th, may be eligible to file a workers' compensation claim or wrongful death claim, which may help family members recover certain costs from medical expenses, lost wages and funeral expenses.  The PSOB Act provides a financial benefit to the eligible survivor of a public safety officer whose death is the direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty.  The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was created by an Act of Congress called the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, shortly after 9/11 to compensate the victims of the attack, and their families, in exchange for their agreement not to sue the airline corporations involved. “Oh I took the money,” said Berman.  “I had no job and hadn’t been in a class room in years.  I never thought I would have to work again; anything I could get monetarily, I took.  I had to.”

            Kenneth Feinberg, the appointed Attorney General, was responsible for making the decisions on how much each family of a 9/11 victim would receive; this was based on how much the victim would have made in a lifetime.  In the end, $7 billion was awarded to 97% of the families, the average payout being $1.8 million.

            For the Berman family, compensation was a necessity. “It allowed us to carry on with life,” Berman said.  “There isn’t a day that goes by though where I wouldn’t give it all back just to see my husband, my best friend, for five more minutes.”