300+ workers have filed health issue lawsuits following demolition of Ground Zero building.
The US enjoys a reputation as the most litigious nation in the world. But even by American standards, the plethora of lawsuits following the long-awaited (and long overdue) demolition of the Deutsche Bank building in Manhattan is beginning to take on near Biblical proportions.
About 327 workers for the various contractors hired to clean-up and demolish the buildings filed suit against Deutsche Bank. The workers seek damages for alleged injuries caused by breathing contaminated air and handling debris without proper respiratory masks and equipment. The workers allege they have suffered asthma, chronic bronchitis, respiratory problems, eye and ear problems, acid reflux, alcoholism, seizures, depression, cancer and death, according to court records.
But when the bank’s insurers refused to pay a share of the defence claims against these lawsuits, another unseemly legal spiral started. The result is that Federal Insurance Co – a unit of Chubb Corp – has filed a lawsuit against about 15 insurance companies to reclaim defence costs.
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