Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, attorney Kenneth Feinberg was appointed by the federal government as the Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Tasked with evaluating financial claims for thousands of victims’ families and injured survivors, Feinberg was required to calculate the economic value of each lost life based on factors such as age and projected lifetime earnings. In exchange for receiving tax-free federal compensation, families waived their right to sue the airlines and related entities, establishing an unprecedented program that resolved the vast majority of potential civil claims.
- Congress created the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund shortly after the 2001 attacks to shield the airline industry from potentially bankrupting lawsuits while providing financial relief to victims.
- Attorney Kenneth Feinberg served pro bono as the fund’s Special Master, overseeing the distribution of more than $7 billion in federal funds.
- Compensation was determined through economic formulas evaluating projected lifetime earnings, age, and non-economic damages, resulting in varying payout amounts.
- The formulaic approach led to disputes among families, particularly regarding the significant disparity between payouts for high-earning professionals and lower-wage workers.
- To receive an award from the fund, surviving relatives and injured claimants were required to waive their legal rights to sue the airlines and security companies.
- Feinberg conducted hundreds of individual hearings with grieving family members, and more than 97 percent of eligible families ultimately chose to participate in the fund.
Gemini said 60 Minutes is an American television news magazine that has been a staple of CBS News since its debut in 1968. Created by Don Hewitt, the program is renowned for its hard-hitting investigative journalism, high-profile interviews, and in-depth feature stories that have earned it a reputation as the gold standard of broadcast news for over half a century.
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Crazy you have to put a price on people's lives!
How much does he get? What's his percentage of the take
He was an absolute loser. How can you value someones life based on their job? He should have divided the money up EVENLY between the families.
what about the governments inaptitude to react to multiple hijacking planes with them thinking it's a false training scenario. funny how little that is mentioned and zero accountability.
Somebody wrote the same comment and got the same amount of likes
Somebody wrote the same comment and got the same amount of likes
its so awful when hes talking about convincing the families out of suing the airlines and saying its pointless when the families that didnt listen to him and did sue the airlines ended up getting more of a settlement.
You cannot put a monetary value on life