Orlando Sentinel

OneOrlando Fund requests that judge dismiss lawsuit

- By Elyssa Cherney Staff Writer echerney@orlandosen­tinel.com or 407-420-5735

being cut by shattered glass and falling as she ran away, which, according to the fund guidelines, could qualify her for up to $35,000 in compensati­on. She works at the same law firm that filed the complaint.

Amador’s attorney, Paul Zeniewicz, wrote in the complaint that an audit must be done prior to disburseme­nts to ensure all money is being properly appropriat­ed. He also questioned the credibilit­y of the main fund administra­tor, Kenneth Feinberg.

Feinberg is a national leader on victim compensati­on in mass tragedies, having handled the September 11th Victim Compensati­on Fund, the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensati­on Fund and One Fund Boston.

City attorneys asked OrangeOsce­ola Circuit Judge John E. Jordan to remove “impertinen­t and scandalous allegation­s” that besmirch Feinberg from the court filing.

The judge set a hearing for Oct. 6.

In response to a lawsuit brought by a Pulse survivor, the OneOrlando Fund asked a judge to dismiss the request for an audit of $29.5 million raised for victim compensati­on before it is distribute­d.

“This Petition is devoid of a single law, rule, regulation, contractua­l obligation, or any common-law duty from which her temporary injunction could stem or that would subject the Respondent­s to liability of any kind,” Orlando city attorneys wrote in a motion filed Tuesday in Orange County Circuit Court.

The legal back-and-forth comes as the OneOrlando Fund begins handing out payments to victims and family members of the 49 people killed in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The fund pledged to do an audit after all the money is disbursed, which it says is standard.

Jillian Amador, who filed the lawsuit, was at Pulse on June 12 with friends but not shot. She said she went to the hospital after

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States