Word: feinberg
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...Whether Feinberg's hard shell is personality or professional affectation, it was cracked soon enough. During a Jan. 16 session with families from Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center collapse, Feinberg turned pale and had to be helped to a seat by Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick. At a meeting shortly thereafter, a man asked Feinberg if he should fill out one or two applications for the fund because his wife was eight months pregnant when she died. Feinberg, who has three grown children, was near tears...
...news that Feinberg was human spread quickly via e-mail among the families, and, coincidence or not, the relationship between the special master and those he serves has been smoother since. "The families still ask the same demanding questions," says Stephen Push, whose wife died on Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. "But he's getting better at fielding them. It takes a lot of sensitivity to deal with people who are grieving as much as we are, and he's improving...
...Feinberg, who spends hours on the phone talking to victims and their lawyers, has not sought counseling as a result of hearing horror story after horror story, and he is skeptical of any attempt to depict him as transformed by Sept. 11. "I honestly do not believe that I've been surprised by any of it," he says matter-of-factly. "I went through Agent Orange, which was pretty rough, and I anticipated on this assignment that it would be rough emotionally, and it has been. But I'm not surprised." What Feinberg will admit is that the experience...
From a practical point of view, Feinberg's ability to help claimants is limited. A few of the fund's more controversial regulations--the litigation waiver; life insurance must be deducted from any potential payout--were designed by Congress. But how much each family receives is at Feinberg's discretion. Claimants can appeal Feinberg's decision--to Feinberg or to one of 30 specially appointed hearing examiners--or they can reject it and sue, although Congress has stacked the deck against any lawsuit's succeeding. Congress also neglected to put a cap on how much Feinberg can give the families...
...attempt at fairness to all constituencies, Feinberg decided that everyone would receive the same amount for pain and suffering: $250,000. He says, "Some people said, 'I want more; my husband was a hero.' Others said, 'My husband called me four times from the 103rd floor to say goodbye.' Some were heroes; some saved others; some tried to save themselves. I'm not in a position to make distinctions amongst those people...