The brokerage firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, who lost a significant number of employees on 9/11 have settled with American Airlines.
Cantor Fitzgerald, a brokerage company that lost 658 of 950 workers when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, settled a lawsuit against American Airlines, whose flight struck the towers on that day. The terms of the settlement were not released as it is still pending court approval.
Terrorist Attack
On September 11, Cantor Fitzgerald’s offices occupied the 101st to 105th floors in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. American Airlines Flight 11, piloted by hijackers, flew into the tower, which fell a short time later. No employees of Cantor Fitzgerald who were in the offices at the time of the attack survived. The company filed a lawsuit against American ten years ago, alleging that American did not do enough to protect their employees from the attack.
Cantor Fitzgerald Employees
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO, Howard Lutnick, whose brother, Gary, a senior officer at the company, died in the attack, said immediately afterward that the company would donate 25 percent of the company profits to a fund that would support the families of those who died. He also authorized health benefits for family members for ten years after the attack. On September 11 each year, the company donates all profits for that day to charitable organizations in memory of the employees they lost. It is probable that a portion of those settlement funds will be used to support family members of the deceased as well.
American Response
Kent Powell, a spokesman for American Airlines said that the airline continues to maintain that they were not at fault in the attacks, and that they could not be expected to do something that the government could not do, such as prevent a terrorist attack. The original lawsuit asked for $945 million, but a 2011 ruling said that the company could not sue for the loss of their employees and limited the company to collecting damage for business interruption. Cantor-Fitzgerald now has offices on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
When the negligence of a company is suspected as the cause or contributing factor in an accident that causes injury or death, a wrongful death claim may be in order. Contact Dallas-Fort Worth lawyers at Frenkel & Frenkel to schedule a free initial consultation regarding an accident where injuries may have been caused or worsened by someone else’s negligence.
