9/11 Workers File Class Action Lawsuit
More than 800 workers involved in cleanup and rescue operations at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City’s Twin Towers have filed a class action lawsuit against Silverstein Properties, the leaser of the towers, and the four construction firms that oversaw the cleanup operation. Filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday, the suit alleges that the plaintiffs were not provided adequate safety information, equipment, or training to protect them from the toxic debris in the air after the attacks. Lead attorney David Worby said that the U.S. EPA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the city of New York, and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will all be added to the suit shortly. The plaintiffs seek unspecified billions in compensatory damages and the establishment of a 20-year medical testing program to monitor health effects, which the suit contends have included cancer, respiratory illnesses, and skin lesions. People “who worked tirelessly and unselfishly are becoming a second wave of casualties,” said Worby.
