Opinion ID: 790924
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Present Lawsuits and Their Removal to Federal Court

Text: 10 In these lawsuits, the plaintiffs include firefighters and police officers who worked at the WTC site searching for survivors and human remains; ironworkers, construction workers, and laborers called upon to deal with building fragments; operating engineers employed to do demolition work; Department of Sanitation workers who transported debris to marine transfer points or to the Fresh Kills Landfill and/or who worked at the landfill; and police officers who worked at the landfill. Plaintiffs commenced their actions in state court against the City, the Port Authority, and/or WTC Properties, alleging that in the course of the employment of plaintiffs (or their spouses) in the rescue or clean-up operation at the disaster site, at the marine transfer points, or at the landfill, plaintiffs (or their spouses) were exposed to toxic fumes and gases and other hazardous conditions, and that they suffered respiratory injuries due to the failure of the City and the Port Authority to monitor those conditions and to provide them with adequate safety equipment, and/or to warn them of the hazards. Plaintiffs brought their claims principally under New York State labor laws which require, inter alia, that employers provide their employees with safe working environments. See, e.g., N.Y. Lab. Law § 200(1) (McKinney 2002) (All places to which this chapter applies shall be so constructed, equipped, arranged, operated and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health and safety of all persons employed therein or lawfully frequenting such places.); id. § 241(6) (All areas in which construction, excavation or demolition work is being performed shall be so constructed, shored, equipped, guarded, arranged, operated and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection and safety to the persons employed therein or lawfully frequenting such places.). 11 The City and/or the Port Authority removed the cases to the district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, asserting that ATSSSA creates a federal cause of action for these plaintiffs, preempts the state-law claims that plaintiffs have asserted, and gives the District Court for the Southern District of New York exclusive jurisdiction over the ATSSSA claims. Disputing these contentions, some of the plaintiffs moved to remand their cases to state court. At the time of the district court's decision of the remand motions, there were some 35 removed actions, involving more than 1,200 plaintiffs.