New York faces US$12bn lawsuit costs

Michael Cardozo, New York City’s corporation counsel, has warned that the city could be hit by settlement costs of around US$12bn from lawsuits being filed by the city’s firefighters following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC). The majority of the claims against the city were being filed by firefighters alleging various health problems arising from the city’s failure to provide adequate respiratory equipment during the recovery and cleanup of the site of the destroyed WTC complex.