Former Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington is among 290 city workers who blew the two-year deadline to file 9/11 workers’ compensation claims against the city, Bloomberg administration officials said yesterday.
Testifying before a City Council hearing, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo would not say whether Washington’s case had been settled yet – as the mayor ordered done last week – but he did reveal that there’s a long line of workers in the former deputy mayor’s position.
“If you have not [made] the claim within two years, the state law requires that we assert the appropriate defense,” Cardozo testified at a budget hearing.
After The Post revealed last week that a state ruling granting Washington workman’s compensation was being challenged by city lawyers, Mayor Bloomberg said their decision was “wrong” and the appeal would be dropped.
Cardozo said the city received over 1,200 workers’ comp claims related to 9/11 before the two-year limit and paid out benefits for 96.5 percent of them – about $4.3 million total. He also revealed that there are 776 people suing the city for compensation for injuries and illnesses sustained at Ground Zero in civil actions separate from the comp claims.
The city insists it doesn’t have to pay.
“Just because someone unfortunate was injured as a result of 9/11, it doesn’t follow that the city should have to pay,” Cardozo said.
Bloomberg, despite intervening in Washington’s claim, backed city lawyers’ stance.
“The city has a fiscal responsibility to try to make sure that only claims that relate to 9/11 are legitimate,” he said.
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Pay or nay
* 1,200 9/11-related workers’ comp claims have been settled.
* Of claims filed, only 3.5% were disputed by the city.
* 290 city workers filed 9/11 claims after the two-year deadline.
* So far, settled claims have cost the city about $4.3 million.