World Trade Center Properties, L.L.C. et al v. United Airlines, Inc. et al

Filing 164

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION TO CREDIT INSURANCE RECOVERIES AGAINST POTENTIAL TORT RECOVERIES: Defendants' motion to credit insurance recoveries against potential tort recoveries is denied. The issue is not suitable for summary disposition o n the record presented. The clerk shall terrninate the motions (08 Civ. 3719, Doc. No. 153; 08 Civ. 3722, Doc. No. 169). (Signed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on 8/31/2012) Filed In Associated Cases: 1:21-mc-00101-AKH, 1:08-cv-03719-AKH, 1:08-cv-03722-AKH(ft)

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IN RE SEPTEMBER II LITIGATION

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FILED

vue #:
DATE F='l=--E-n-:~-=-t~'I";-z...-.-

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

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• u.,

21 MC 101 (AKH)
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WORLD TRADE CENTER PROPERTIES LLC et aI.,

OPINION AND ORDER
DENYING MOTION TO
CREDIT INSURANCE
RECOVERIES AGAINST
POTENTIAL TORT
RECOVERIES

Plaintiffs,
-against-

UNITED AIRLINES, INC. et aI.,
08 Civ. 3719 (AKH)
Defendants.

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)(

WORLD TRADE CENTER PROPERTIES LLC ct aI.,
Plaintiffs,
08 Civ. 3722 (AKH)
-against·

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., et aI.,
Defendants.

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ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN, U.S.DJ.:
On July 16,2001, plaintiffs World Trade Center Properties, LLC and affiliated
companies (collectively "WTCP") purchased 99-year leases to four World Trade Center
buildings, Towers One, Two, Four, and Five, from the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, Inc., the owner of the properties. Plaintiffs paid $2.805 billion. Two months later, the
terrorist air crashes of September 11 caused the Twin Towers (Towers One and Two) to bec{)me
raging infernos and collapse. And their collapse caused Towers Four and Five (and Tower

Seven) to collapse. WTCP sued United Airlines, American Airlines, and others (collectively, the
"Aviation Defendants" or "Defendants"), alleging that but for the Aviation Defendants'
negligence, the terrorists could not have boarded and hijacked the aircraft and flown them into
the Twin Towers.
WTCP also recovered $4.091 billion from insurance. l The Defendants now move
for "collateral setoff," alleging that insurance recoveries more than compensated WTCP for
potential tort recovery. See N. Y. C.P.L.R. § 4545.
Defendants' motion is denied. The overlap between WTCP's insurance recovery
and its potential tort recovery presents issues of fact requiring trial.

I.

Factual and Procedural Background

The issue presented by this motion follows from my earlier opinions in this
matter. In December 2008 I limited WTCP's recovery to the lesser oHair market value or
replacement cost. In re September 11th Litig., 590 F. Supp. 2d 535 (S.D.N.Y. 2008). In a
follow-up order, after separate briefing and argument, I fixed the limit oftort recovery at $2.805
billion. The price paid for the leases, I found, was equivalent to their fair market value on
September 11,2001. In re September 11th Litig., 2009 WL 118105721 MC 101 (April 30,
2009, S.D.N.Y.). The Aviation Defendants then moved for collateral setoff, and I denied the
motion as premature. In re September 11th Litig., 21 MC 101, Doc. No. 945 (Sep. 30, 2009,
S.D.N.Y.). I assume familiarity with this background.
A. WTCP's Insurance Coverage
By the terms of its leases, WTep covenanted, in the event of damage or
destruction to the leasehold, to "rebuild, restore, repair and replace" the premises to the extent

I The exact amount of recovery was $4,091,364,034, inclusive ofa payment of$563 million to GMAC, one of
WTCP's creditors. See In re September 11th Litig., 21 MC 101, Doc. No. 945 (Sep. 30, 2009, S.D.N.Y.).

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"feasible, prudent and commercially reasonable." See, e.g., Agreement of Lease: One World
Trade Center, § 15.1,2 WTCP agreed also to insure the buildings against property damage for
the lesser of "actual replacement cost" or $1.5 billion "per occurrence." rd. § 14.1.1. The leases
provided that there was to be no exclusion for "terrorist acts," so long as such a policy term was
available "at commercially reasonable rates." Id.
Additionally, to ensure that WTCP would be able to continue to make its lease
payments to the Port Authority in the event that a building was "out of operation," WTCP agreed
also to insure against "Loss of RevenuelBusiness Interruption" in such amounts as "reasonably
required by the Port Authority," to cover a three-year period of no building operation. rd. §
14.1.2.
Upon signing the 99-year leases, WTCP procured twelve-layer, multiple-company
insurance coverage aggregating $3,546,800,000 "per occurrence." The coverage, defined by
different insurance forms and binders, included Property Damage and Business Interruption
coverage, as required by the leases. The Property Damage coverage insured the "interest of the
Insured in all property of every kind and description owned or used ...." The Business
Interruption insurance covered lost revenues resulting from the "necessary interruption or
reduction of business operations. , . caused by loss, damage, or destruction ...."

The lease provides: "If the Premises ... or any structures, improvements, fixtures and equipment, furnishings and
physical property located thereon, or any part thereof, shall be damaged or destroyed by fire, the elements, the
public enemy or other casualty, or by reason of any cause whatsoever and whether partial or total, the Lessee, at its
sole cost and expense, and whether or not such damage or destruction is covered by insurance proceeds sufficient for
the purpose, shall remove all debris resulting from such damage or destruction, and shall rebuild, restore, repair and
replace the Premises ... and any structures, improvements, fixtures and equipment, furnishings and physical
property located thereon substantially in accordance, to the extent feasible, prudent and commercially reasonable,
with the plans and specifications, for the same as they existed prior to such damage or destruction or with the
consent in writing of the Port Authority, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or delayed,
make such repairs, replacements, changes or alterations as is mutually agreed to by the Port Authority and the
Lessee." Agreement of Lease: One World Trade Center, § \5.1.

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After the Towers collapsed, WTCP filed Preliminary Proofs of Partial Loss
("PPOPL"s), of approximately $8 billion dollars? WTCP and the insurers engaged in litigation
over whether the 9/11 attacks on the Trade Towers constituted one "occurrence" or two, as
defined by the definitions in the various binders and policies. See SR Int'I B\ls. Ins. Co. v. World
Trade Ctr. Props., LLC, 467 F.3d 107 (2d Cir. 2006». Ultimately, the parties settled at $4.091
billion, and the insurers paid that amount to WTCP. The parties did not allocate the settlement
between Property Damage and Business Interruption.
B. WTCP's Lawsuit Against the Aviation Defendants
In its lawsuit, WTCP alleged that it suffered damages of$8.4 billion, the
estimated cost of replacing the Towers, and sought recovery against the Aviation Defendants for
their negligence. The Aviation Defendants denied that they were negligent and denied that they
could be liable beyond the fair market value of the leasehold. On Defendants' motion for
summary judgment, I held that a tort recovery was limited to the lesser of fair market value or
replacement cost, and ruled that the loss in market value of WTCP's 99-year leasehold, valued as
of September 11,2001, was the most that it could recover. In re September 11th Litig., 590 F.
Supp. 2d at 536. I ruled that WTCP could not recover in tort, in a suit for negligence, the
damages flowing from its contractual obligations to "rebuild, restore, repair and replace" the
Trade Center bUildings. I held that the "particular features of WTCP's contracts cannot be made
the special responsibility of the Aviation Defendants ...." Id. at 544.
After further submissions by the parties, I determined the value of WTCP's
destroyed leasehold on September 11, 200 I to be $2.805 billion-the price WTCP agreed to pay
the Port Authority for the leasehold only a few months earlier. In

Ie

September 11 Litig., 21 MC

101 (AKH), 2009 WL 1181057 at "4 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 30,2009). I rejected WTCP's argument
, Plaintiffs' expert found the Iotal to be approximately $7.846 billion; Defendants' expert found it to be $8.531.

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that its leasehold, measured by its value as burdened by its covenant to rebuild the Trade Center,
had taken on a negative value. Id. at *3.
Defendants now argue that since WTCP recovered $4.091 billion from insurance,
it cannot recover the lesser amount of $2.805 billion, the fair market value of its destroyed
leasehold. 4 In order to make such a finding, I would have to find, to a "reasonable certainty,"
that the categories of insurance payments received by WTCP "correspond" to the categories of
potential damages WTCP could recover in its lawsuit against the Aviation Defendants. On this
record, before trial, I am not able to make such findings.
II.

New York C.P.L.R. Section 4545 and Its Judieial Interpretation

New York's C.P.L.R. Section 4545 is known as a "collateral source law."
Essentially, it provides that if a plaintiff has been compensated for economic loss by some
"collateral source," such as insurance, the plaintiff cannot recover compensation again in a tort
lawsuit against a defendant. The statute provides:
In any action brought to recover damages for personal injury, injury to property or
wrongful death, where the plaintiff seeks to recover for ... loss of eamings or
other economic loss, evidence shall be admissible for consideration by the court
to establish that any such past or future cost or expense was or will, with
reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified, in whole or in part, from any
collateral source such as insurance (except for life insurance) .... Ifthe court
finds that any such cost or expense was or will, with reasonable certainty, be
replaced or indemnified from any collateral source, it shall reduce the amount of
the award by such finding, minus an amount equal to the premiums paid by the
plaintiff for such benefits for the two-year period immediately preceding the
accrual of such action and minus an amount equal to the projected future cost to
the plaintiff of maintaining such benefits.
N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 4545(c) (2008).5
wrcp argues that the $2.805 billion represents the value of the leases to the Port Authority, not WTCP. wrcP's
value, it argues, should be measured by the profit (or loss) wrcp would expect from the lease, For litigation
purposes. however, value is not subjective, but rather the "fair market value," the value that a ready, willing, and
able buyer and seller would agree to exchange for the specific property, on the open market and in an arm's length
transaction, l!tt Black's, 8'" Ed" at 1587, wrcP engaged in just that transaction on July 16,2001.
'Section 4545(c) has since been amended, effective November 12, 2009, and redesignated Section 4545(a),
However, actions filed before the effuctive date are governed by the earlier language, quoted in the text.

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Importantly, Section 4545(c) does not provide for a reduction in damages
based on any and all of the plaintiffs collateral recoveries. Rather, "reduction is
authorized only when the collateral source payment represents reimbursement for a
particular category of loss that corresponds to a category of loss for which damages were
awarded." Oden v. Chemung County Indus. Dev. Agency, 87 N.Y.2d 81,84 (1995)
(emphasis added). And correspondence must be proven by a "reasonable certainty."
Turnbull v. USAir, Inc., 133 F3d 184, 188 (2d Cir, 1998). The purpose of the law is "to
eliminate windfalls and double recoveries for the same loss." Fisher v. Qualico Contr.
Corp., 98 N.Y.2d 534, 537 (2002). Achieving this goal "is served by subtracting from
the total award those collateral source payments that duplicate or correspond to a
particular item of economic loss." Oden, 87 N.Y.2d at 88. But subtraction of all, even
non-duplicative payments, would "produce results beyond those necessary to remedy the
[windfalls to plaintiffs] at which the legislation was aimed" and "would confer an
undeserved windfall on tort defendants and their insurers ...." Id. at 88.

III.

Application of Correspondence between WTCP's Losses and Insurance Recoveries
A. WTCP's Potential Recovery of Damages
By reason of the events of9/11, WTCP lost its revenue stream, until the leasehold

property could be restored. However, pursuant to its lease, it was obligated to continue to pay
rents to the Port Authority, The lease required WTCP to procure Property Damage insurance to
facilitate the rebuilding of the towers should they be damaged or destroyed, and Business
Interruption insurance to facilitate WTCP's ability to continue to pay rent should its anticipated
revenues be disrupted. Agreement of Lease: One World Trade Center, § 14.1.1, § 14.1.2. The
anticipated expenses of procuring such insurance are subsumed in a real estate developer's

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calculation of a leasehold's anticipated net income and, hence, the price it is willing to pay for
the property. Thus, the fair market value of the WTCP leasehold, as of September 11, 2001,
reflected all these revenue and expense ingredients. These factors may enter into the calculation
offair market value that ready, willing, and able buyers and sellers are willing to pay and to
receive. I would assume that the price paid by WTCP, and accepted by the Port Authority­
$2.805 billion-and the competitive bids that preceded the agreement, reflected all the
ingredients of anticipated revenue and expense.

B. WTCP's Insurance Recoveries
WICP settled its litigation against its insurers for $4.091 billion, a little more than
half its PPOPL total of approximately $8 billion. WICP's claim mainly fell into two categories:
Property Damage insurance to defray the cost of rebuilding the leased properties, and Business
Interruption insurance to compensate for WICP's lost revenue stream and to defray the burden
ofWICP's continuing obligation to pay rent to the Port Authority. Ihe proportions of each
category to the whole were 84.2 to 15.8, respectively." If those proportions were to be applied to
the insurance recovery (and the relevance of taking such proportions is far from clear),
$3,444,622,000 would be allocable to property damage, and $646,378,000 to business
interruption. The legal question is whether or not there is correspondence between WICP's
insurance recovery, or any part of it, and WICP's potential damage recovery in this lawsuit.
Oden, 87 N.Y.2d at 84.

This proportion was calculated by examining WTCP's PPOPLs. However, as these PPOPLs never turned into
claims evaluated in the adjustment process, Ihis proportion may be arbitrary, and thus unsatisfactory.

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C. Correspondence Between Insurance and Tort Recoveries Has Not Been Shown
to a Reasonable Certainty
As stated by the New York Court of Appeals in Oden, "reduction [of damages] is
authorized only when the collateral source payment represents reimbursement for a particular
category of loss that corresponds to a category of loss for which damages were awarded." 87
N.Y.2d at 84. And correspondence must be proved to a "reasonable certainty." Turnbull, 133
F.3d at 188. The Aviation Defendants argue that both aspects of WTCP' s insurance recoveryProperty Damage and Business Interruption-should correspond to WTCP's tort loss of the
value of its leasehold, thereby subsuming all of WTCP's tort claims. But that is not clear. The
proof of the experts, seeking to relate, or not to relate, a gross insurance recovery to various
amounts of damage, raises many questions of correspondence. WTCP suffered different
categories ofloss on the morning of September II, and the issue of correspondence between
them and WTCP's insurance recoveries presents issues of complexity and nuance that will
require a trial to clarify.

IV.

Conclusion
Defendants' motion to credit insurance recoveries against potential tort recoveries

is denied. The issue is not suitable for summary disposition on the record presented. The clerk
shall terrninatethe motions (08 Civ. 3719, Doc. No. 153; 08 Civ. 3722, Doc. No. 169).
SO ORDERED.
Dated:

Augus~1 2012

New ~New York
United States District Judge

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