Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic
- George Daniels
- 1:02-cv-06977
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Ashton v. al Qaeda Islamic Army, Judge Daniels granted the motion as to three plaintiffs, awarding specified solatium damages and interest.
James Della Bella, Jason Schoenholtz, and Terrence M. Smith, Jr. received the specified solatium damages and prejudgment interest. Other plaintiffs not listed in Exhibit A and not previously awarded damages may submit later applications for solatium or economic damages.
What happened
In Ashton et al v. al Qaeda Islamic Army, et al., three plaintiffs asked for final judgments and solatium damages for losses from the September 11, 2001 attacks. They argued they were close enough to immediate family members to qualify for damages.
The court adopted Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn’s recommendation after finding no clear error. It ruled that James Della Bella, Jason Schoenholtz, and Terrence M. Smith, Jr. qualified as functional equivalents of immediate family members. The court approved the amounts listed in Exhibit A, including $8,500,000 for Della Bella, $2,125,000 for Schoenholtz, and $8,500,000 for Smith.
Judge George B. Daniels granted the plaintiffs’ motion as to those three plaintiffs, awarded the listed solatium damages, and awarded prejudgment interest at 4.96% per year, compounded annually. Other plaintiffs not listed in Exhibit A and not previously awarded damages may submit applications at later stages.
The detailed version
- Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic · No. 1:02-cv-06977
- George Daniels
- Feb. 14, 2020
Background
The Ashton Plaintiffs moved for final judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran and sought solatium damages for certain non-immediate family members of people killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Solatium damages are money awarded for emotional losses resulting from a death. The plaintiffs argued that the claimants were “functional equivalents” of immediate family members.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn recommended granting the motion in part and denying it in part. The district court stated that the plaintiffs filed no objections, so it reviewed the recommendation for clear error—a significant mistake apparent from the record.
Functional-Equivalent Framework
The court had previously adopted a framework for awarding solatium damages to immediate family members, including spouses, parents, children, and siblings. It later adopted a framework allowing non-immediate family members to recover if they were functional equivalents of immediate family members.
The court upheld the finding that Jason Schoenholtz was the functional equivalent of an immediate family member to his stepbrother, Alexander (“Alex”) Steinman. Because Schoenholtz and Steinman did not begin living in the same home until Steinman was fourteen, the court approved reducing the usual functional-equivalent sibling award by half, from $4,250,000 to $2,125,000.
The court also upheld the finding that James Della Bella and Terrence M. Smith, Jr. were functional equivalents of immediate family members to the relevant decedents. Exhibit A listed $8,500,000 in solatium damages for Della Bella, $2,125,000 for Schoenholtz, and $8,500,000 for Smith.
Ruling
The court granted the motion for final judgments as it pertained to James Della Bella, Jason Schoenholtz, and Terrence M. Smith, Jr. It ordered judgments for the solatium damages listed in Exhibit A and awarded prejudgment interest from September 11, 2001, through the date of judgment at 4.96% per year, compounded annually.
The court also ordered that plaintiffs not listed in Exhibit A who had not previously received damages could submit later applications for solatium or economic damages under the same basis approved for the plaintiffs listed in Exhibit A or in prior filings.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.