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Hokie Fund Recipients May Sue

July 21, 2007

By Bill McKelway

A lawyer trying to negotiate a benefit plan for victims of the Virginia Tech massacre says whatever deal might be struck will not prevent families from filing suits against the university and state.

Kenneth R. Feinberg, who took on the task this month of developing recommendations for use of the $7.1 million Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, said yesterday that lawsuits and use of the privately contributed memorial money are separate issues.

Unlike the 9/11 fund that Feinberg also administered, "Tech has made it clear to me Tech understands that taking from this fund in no way precluded the right of a recipient to file a lawsuit," he said.

Feinberg and Rabbi Yossel Kranz of Richmond, a participant in the discussions, talked with reporters yesterday after a two-hour meeting in Richmond with about 30 families of Tech shooting victims.

Both men said the families showed deep-seated mistrust and anguish over Virginia Tech's treatment of them and over a lack of clarity in the memorial fund's purpose. "The families are united in grief and the emotional response to this tragedy," Feinberg said.

"As you might imagine, the range [of their concerns] is everything from the total amount available, to when the fund should be shut down, to how the money should be distributed . . . exactly what you would expect," he said.

In the case of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, those who received money from the government had to promise not to file suit.

But the Virginia Tech memorial money is not made up of public money.

Feinberg said there will never be full agreement among the families on what course to pursue because the needs are so disparate.

But Feinberg and Kranz said there is unity among the families about the divide separating them and Virginia Tech administrators.

"I think the families were relieved to finally have someone to talk to," Kranz said. "There seems to be a lot of frustration at not having someone to give them clear answers and for them to make suggestions to. . . .

"The issue that clearly came across is the frustration in the way Virginia Tech as a university has responded to or not responded to the families."

Tech officials have said they may have acted too hastily to address the fund issue in the days after the April 16 shootings. The school appointed Feinberg this month to work one-on-one with families and propose a distribution plan.

Kranz would not speak to points raised by specific families but said the range of issues runs from unreturned phone calls to the university's initial failure to incorporate the families in the discussions about the memorial fund's use. And he said families cannot fathom why federal, state or university funds are not part of a potential compensation package.

Thomas J. Fadoul Jr., a lawyer representing many families of victims, has said they deserve far more than the amount initially proposed by Feinberg.

That proposal, which Feinberg yesterday stressed is only a beginning, sets aside $150,000 for families of the 32 deceased Tech students and teachers, and $25,000 to $75,000 for 27 injured students. Another $8,000 would be set aside for each of as many as 60 people suffering from the trauma of being in Norris Hall, where Seung-Hui Cho shot most of his victims.

Feinberg has suggested proposing a final plan to Tech by mid-August and assigning money by Nov. 1. But that would block an extension of time for raising more money.

Feinberg said he is planning several meetings in the next two weeks.

Contact Bill McKelway at bmckelway@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6601.