UPI STORY : WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT
A $20 million wrongful death suit has been filed against New York City by the wife of a utility repairman who died of a rare lung disease.
The suit contends Mark DeBiase, 41, contracted pulmonary fibrosis as a result of his work at Ground Zero to restore essential cell phone service after Sept. 11, 2001, The New York Post reports.
Legal papers filed by lawyer Andrew Carboy accuse the city of failing to provide DeBiase with protective gear to keep him from breathing toxic air and dust while toiling for weeks at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill.
A Coast Guard veteran, DeBaise left behind a wife, Jean Marie, and three sons aged 12, 9 and 8.
Two other first responders, Detective James Zadroga and Police Officer Cesar Borja, also died of pulmonary fibrosis.
The DeBaise case is one of the first wrongful death suits filed by a World Trade Center responder that specifically links the rare lung disease to Ground Zero exposure.