In New York federal court today, a judge began hearing testimony to decide whether owners of the old World Trade Centers may sue the airline companies of the crashed planes. If so, they would seek up to $3.5 billion in damages, in addition to nearly $5 billion in insurance they have received.
The new 1 World Trade Center, also called the Freedom Tower.
Lawyers for the owners, known as World Trade Center Properties, argued money already received does not preclude another monetary reward. Richard Williamson, one of the WTC Properties attorney, also said accounting and construction experts had estimated damages amounting to at least $7.2 billion, and noted that “This [number] did not just come out of a hat." Meanwhile, attorney Roger Podesta, representing the airline companies, called it double compensation, and claimed the total ($8.5 billion) would be more than 2 ½ times the actual worth of the buildings, the AP reports.
According to including CNN, the corporations being sued include American Airlines Inc., United Airlines Inc., and US Airways Inc. WTC Properties claims they were negligent, and the judge is expected to rule within 3 days.
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