Widow of Sept. 11 Passenger Sues

rueters

[newsperson999]

NEW YORK (AP) - A woman whose husband died aboard one of the jetliners that slammed into the World Trade Center sued the airline Thursday, alleging company negligence led to the Sept. 11 hijacking.

Ellen Mariani of Derry, N.H., filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the southern district of New York. Her husband, Louis Mariani, 58, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to hit the center.

Her lawyer, Don Nolan, said he didn't know of any other such federal suits.

The lawsuit, which sought unspecified damages, said Ellen Mariani and her children have sustained ``substantial non-economic damages'' including ``loss of companionship, grief, sorrow, pain and anguish.''

The couple were taking separate flights to California to attend the wedding of Ellen Mariani's daughter. Initially, Louis Mariani had planned to stay home, thinking it was too expensive for them both to go. But his wife raised money through yard sales to buy him a surprise ticket.

Nolan said in a statement that the airline had a duty to ``exercise the highest degree of care'' for safety and should have stopped the hijackers from boarding the plane. He wouldn't elaborate on what he thinks the airline should have done differently.

Nolan said Mariani has decided not to apply for money from the federal Victims Compensation Fund, which is open only to those families who agree not to sue anyone for damages. ``Mrs. Mariani doesn't want the taxpayers' money,'' he said. ``She wants her day in court with United Airlines.'' A message left for comment with a spokeswoman at United Airlines was not immediately returned.
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[TWRepublican]

can you say torte reform boys and girls....sure you can!

[SarahW]

Then who would she sue? She could sue person(s) or corporations at fault in causing the accident.

[tdadams]

I knew as soon as I posted there'd be one captious idiot to say something like this. Do you understand that this was intended as a "for example" as in, thousands of people die every year in car wrecks and the families don't sue. Just because this was under spectacular circumstances and the defendants have deep pockets, some ambulance chaser lawyer wants to get a piece of it. Don't nitpick here.

[TankerKC]

I hope she wins enough to bankrupt the airline. Then maybe American corporations...ayayayayayayayay whine whine whine yayayayayay

Good plan. Not.

[YaYa123]

If I weren't so heartless, so mean spirited, I would feel sorry for Gore. Bill Schneider on CNN showed a poll. Only 26% of democrats favor Gore running again. The rest favor "someone else". (I'm so mean, I almost changed that to "anyone else!"

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The rest favor "someone else".

Uh-oh. This means Hillary is going to change her name to Someone Else.

[gfactor]

Do you understand that this was intended as a "for example" as in, thousands of people die every year in car wrecks and the families don't sue

in the case of negligence they ought to. but accidents do happen.

[MadEagle]

Yes, this poor woman lost her husband, but he's no less dead than if he'd gotten in a car wreck. Then who would she sue?

The other driver or his/her insurance company.

[Ima Lurker]

Here we go!! Wonder why she doesn't sue the people who shopped her yard sales too. If they hadn't purchased her junk she wouldn't have been able to afford the ticket.

[SUSSA]

The airlines created an unsafe environment by having unarmed cockpit crews and denying passengers the ability to carry self-defense tools. An armed cockpit crew or armed passengers could have prevented thousands of deaths. If the cockpit crew or the passengers were armed, the World Trade Center would still be standing.

Survivors from the WTC should sue too. Any business that bars self-defense tools should pay when someone is attacked on their property.

[sailingfreeper]

I hate to see dumb lawsuits, maybe this is one, maybe it is not. It depends upon which wacked out viewpoint of U.S. law you look from. Who is responsible for the security of each individual on the plane?

The individual is responsible for their security. They should have never boarded an airline with such lax onboard security or without the means to defend themselves.(I like this one best)

The airline is responsible. They were negligent in providing proper security onboard their aircraft. A responsible airline would have had armed pilots.(I like this one pretty good)

The federal government is responsible. Years of useless laws and bureaucracy has prevented airlines and indivuals from properly providing for their security whilie flying.(I like this one too)

The federal government is responsible. The government should have provided the proper security onboard the flight and within the airport to protect its citizens.(I don't really like this one)

[gnarledmaw]

Bite me, socialist.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Since all the wonderful charities that have recieved so much money from the American Public have refused to include the people on the 4 downed planes I suppose she thinks she has to provide for her family and is attempting to do so.