World Trade Center Litigation BLOG

With the new WTC project underway yet again despite current drawbacks, things are finally back on track and making progress. New designs and implementations are underway to provide the city with a magnificent memorial filled with hope and remembrance. The new design is now under way and suspected to be more in tune with the budget and the time schedule. But what hasn’t been paid attention to are the buildings surrounding the WTC project. Goldman Sachs has spent over $2 billion dollars on their new headquarters that is filling up lower Manhattans skyline. The new building is set to have 43 stories with 11,000 employees to fill the space. However, Goldman Sachs has been notoriously known for their discretion in which they were not able to keep up when significant injuries were seen during the construction of the massive building.

It was reported that a crane had dropped 7 tons of metal studs that had severely injured one of their employees. An Architect, Robert Woo with Adamson Associates International, was severely injured leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. This immediately brought attention to the injury and the building for Goldman Sachs had been flying under the radar. Now that the attention has been placed on Goldman Sachs many are going to be following the story very closely. This is in part due to the close proximity Goldman Sachs lies to the new WTC building. So many workers were injured there after the attacks on 9/11 and are still feeling the repercussions. Many WTC workers that worked on the cleanup of the site after the attacks were exposed to toxic fumes that resulted in respiratory complications. Many of these workers have yet to see any compensation for their medical bills that was set away for them in the WTC Captive Fund. And I bet people are going to be keeping a close eye on this injury to see what kind of compensation is going to be awarded. The curiosity is going to be stemming from the fact the both types of injuries occurred on site. The difference is that one is corporately funded the other is funded by the government.

Injuries at both ends of the spectrum are going to occur at all stages of construction; however it will be interesting to see what the difference is in settlements due to the backing of the funding. WTC workers who were injured and cannot afford to support their families because their reimbursement from medical expenses are still being held in the WTC Captive Fund, is unfortunately more common than not. This injury at Goldman Sachs is an unfortunate occurrence in which we must open our eyes to the types of safety standards and regulations that are not being enforced. If you or a loved one has been injured due to being exposed to the toxins at the WTC site, contact Napoli Bern LLP. For they have the experience and knowledge necessary to stand up to the government and other insurance giants that might be holding your compensation.