Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein (See Profile) will decide on Jan. 13 whether to accept a settlement between American Airlines and its insurers and Cantor Fitzgerald over claims that the airline’s negligence allowed terrorists to hijack Flight 11 and destroy the World Trade Center’s north tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
The financial services firm, which lost 658 employees on Sept. 11, 2001, sued in 2004 for business interruption and property damages flowing from the destruction of its offices on the top five floors of the tower. The settlement would head off a trial in the case that was scheduled to begin in January.
