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Domestic Partner Wins Share of Child's 9/11 Benefits

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

A New York State appellate panel upheld a Workers' Compensation claim that will result in a domestic partner sharing benefits deriving from 9/11 with the decedent's child. The consequence of the decision is that Paul Innella's 6-year-old daughter will lose some Workers' Compensation death benefits to a woman who says she was engaged to Mr. Innella. The woman is not the child's mother. “[O]ne certainly could debate the equities of the statute,” Justice Crew wrote for a unanimous panel. Nonetheless, the justices said, the provision survives constitutional scrutiny.

Mr. Innella, one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, left behind a then-22-month-old daughter and two women with whom he had had relationships. One, Jennifer Novara, is the mother of his child. The other was his fiancee, Lucy Aita. After Ms. Novara applied for and obtained $400 weekly in Workers' Compensation benefits on behalf of the child, Ms. Aita filed a challenge contending that she, as Mr. Innella's domestic partner, was entitled to the equivalent of a spousal share. The state Workers' Compensation Board agreed, as did the Third Department in Matter of Jennifer Novara, 96513.

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