More $$ for GZ workers
Ground Zero workers will get at least $35 million added to their toxic-injury settlement with the city — and not pay a dime more in legal fees.
A ruling by Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein last week hiked the total to be paid to 10,000 cops, firefighters, and other workers from $637.5 million to more than $672.5 million.
The extra money was part of a deal for “bonuses” if the percentage of plaintiffs who joined the settlement rose above 95 percent.
But the city argued that the percentage artificially rose after the elimination of 409 plaintiffs who had stopped pursuing their cases and that the extra bonuses were therefore undeserved.
Hellerstein disagreed — and also barred the workers’ lawyers from getting their hands on the money by taking a 25 percent cut of the added funds.
The $187 million in fees that the personal-injury lawyers will collect — plus millions in expenses — “is more than sufficient compensation,” he said.
