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 final judgments awarding Frolich and Jermyn $7 million and $5 million in damages.
Timothy Frolich and John F. Jermyn received final judgments for pain-and-suffering damages of $7,000,000 and $5,000,000, respectively, plus prejudgment interest. Other Ashton plaintiffs who were not included in the motion and had not previously received damages may apply later for additional damages.
What happened
In Ashton v. al Qaeda Islamic Army, two plaintiffs asked the court for final default judgments for injuries they suffered in the September 11, 2001 attacks. A magistrate judge recommended granting the request in part and set proposed damage amounts.
Because no party objected, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error and adopted it in full. The court awarded Timothy Frolich $7,000,000 and John F. Jermyn $5,000,000 for pain and suffering, plus yearly compounded interest at 4.96 percent from September 11, 2001, through the judgment period.
Judge George B. Daniels granted the motion for final judgments. The order also allowed plaintiffs who were not part of this motion and had not previously received damages to apply later for punitive, economic, or other damages.
The detailed version
- Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic · No. 1:02-cv-06977
- George Daniels
- July 28, 2022
Background
Two Ashton plaintiffs, Timothy Frolich and John F. Jermyn, moved for final partial default judgments for personal injuries suffered in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The opinion states that liability had previously been decided in the plaintiffs’ favor and against the Islamic Republic of Iran, leaving damages as the outstanding issue.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn recommended granting the motion in part and recommended specific damages. She applied a previously adopted framework for awarding personal-injury damages, which categorized injuries as significant, severe, or devastating and allowed upward adjustments in exceptional circumstances.
Court’s Review
No party filed objections to the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation. Judge Daniels therefore reviewed the report for clear error, meaning a clear mistake after reviewing the record, rather than reconsidering every issue from the beginning. He found no clear error and adopted the report in full.
The court agreed with the recommended pain-and-suffering awards. It awarded Frolich $7,000,000 and Jermyn $5,000,000. It also approved prejudgment interest beginning September 11, 2001, through the date of judgment, at 4.96 percent per year, compounded annually.
Disposition
The court’s conclusion states that the plaintiffs’ motion for final judgments was GRANTED. The order entered judgments for Frolich and Jermyn for the stated pain-and-suffering amounts, with the specified prejudgment interest. It also stated that plaintiffs who were not included in this motion and had not previously received damages could submit later applications for punitive, economic, and other damages. The Clerk was directed to close the motion in the multidistrict litigation docket and the related case docket.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.