Last week, I went to Washington, D.C. to attend a conference sponsored by the National Crime Victim Bar Association. While there, I heard Julie Shontere and Keith Franz speak. Ms. Shontere’s daughter was killed in the 9/11 crash at the Pentagon, and Mr. Franz was the attorney that represented the Shontere family.
Ms. Shontere basically had two options to seek damages for the death of her daughter: 1) she could utilize the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, or 2) she could file a lawsuit in civil court. The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund was basically a government sponsored program that made payments to victims though a streamlined process. However, if anyone took the government money, they were barred from filing a civil lawsuit against the responsible parties.
Although it was a much riskier option, Ms. Shontere chose to file a civil lawsuit. The primary motivation for this decision was that it allowed her to seek answers through the discovery process. If she had just accepted the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund payment, she would have never been able to use depositions, document requests, and other discovery tools to help investigate the multiple failures that allowed this act of terrorism to occur.
Mr. Franz did a brilliant job of detailing the nearly 8 years of litigation. He sued several parties, including the security company at the airport (for not screening close enough), the plane manufacturer (for allowing the cockpit to be so accessible), the airlines, and the airport authorities. Notable facts included:
1. The company in charge of airport passenger screening had a nearly 400% annual turnover rate in personnel. The workers at the airport Burger King made more than the security screeners.
2. The workers at the security checkpoint generally had less than one day of training.
3. During the discovery process, the government objected to the release of a number of documents on the basis of “national security.” However, it was discovered that during the criminal prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, these documents had been given to him. The awkward position existed where a suspected terrorist had access to “national security” documents, yet the 9/11 victims were not trusted with the same documents. Eventually, the victims obtained them.
4. The traveling habits of the terrorists didn’t raise any alarm with the airlines, despite the fact that: a) the tickets were all paid for in cash, b) the tickets were all one-way, and c) the terrorists did not carry any luggage even though they were all on cross-country flights.
Eventually, Ms. Shontere settled her case. In the end, it was evident that the answers she received from civil litigation were more important than the financial recovery that was obtained.
