Judge limits damages in 9/11 airline suit
Work continues at the site of the collapsed World Trade Center's Twin Towers. (Sept. 22, 2001) Credit: Newsday/Julia Gaines
A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday limited the damages Cantor Fitzgerald can seek from American Airlines for the deaths of hundreds of employees who were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Cantor can't claim nearly $1 billion in lost profits because any damages suffered from the deaths of key employees and their business acumen and contacts cannot be recovered under New York law.
"No one can deny the emotional and financial hurt suffered by Cantor Fitzgerald and the families of its officers and employees," Hellerstein wrote. "But as a matter of law, Cantor Fitzgerald's claim for damages, however theorized, may not include claims for lost profits resulting from the deaths of and injuries to its officers and employees on Sept. 11."
Cantor, a bond trading firm, lost 658 employees on Sept. 11 and is one of the few companies that hasn't settled its lawsuit against the airline. The company says it lost nearly $1 billion for interruption of its business due to the airline's lax security measures.
Hellerstein said that any claim for a death is a wrongful death action and cannot be pursued by an employer as a business interruption claim.
The judge ordered Cantor and its experts to recalculate its claimed damages.
A spokesman for Cantor said, "It is Cantor's policy to refrain from commenting on litigation while the matter is before the court."
Hellerstein, in his ruling, said that only one lawsuit brought on behalf of an individual who died on Sept. 11 against an airline has not been settled. That case is scheduled for trial before him in June.
