Nadler: Rudy Washington Deserves Compensation – and so do Thousands of Other Ground Zero Workers and Residents

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mayor Bloomberg capitulated yesterday and agreed that the city should pay for medical expenses incurred by Rudy Washington, a top Giuliani aide sickened by toxins he inhaled while serving at Ground Zero in 2001, the New York Post reports.  The city had appealed a favorable ruling on a workers’ compensation claim Mr. Washington filed last year. 

“Mayor Bloomberg made the right decision in the end – but it shouldn’t take front-page media coverage and high-powered friends to convince our leadership to do the right thing for those who are suffering,” Congressman Nadler said. “There are hundreds of first responders and recovery workers who are sick and waiting on compensation claims.  There should be no impediment – legal or political – to giving proper care to these heroes.” 

New York workers’ compensation law includes a two-year time limit for filing claims, a policy that severely undercuts workers’ ability to obtain compensation, given the slow and progressive nature of 9/11-related respiratory illness.

“Our failure to provide for our sickened responders, workers, and residents, is downright shameful.  The federal, state, and city governments must do all in their power to right this injustice.” 

###