(PHOTO: Widow Ellen Mariani with her lawyer Philip J. Berg)
The complaint filed on behalf of Ellen Mariani by Philip J. Berg, Esquire is booby-trapped.
Mrs. Mariani's late husband, Louis Neil Mariani, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, the airplane that is alleged to have crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
As a 911 widow, Mrs. Mariani was entitled to receive money from the government's 911 Victims Compensation Fund. Families who accepted money from the fund were required to waive their rights to sue for damages, and with that, of course, the right to conduct discovery. It is through the discovery and subpoena process that the real facts about 9-11 might be brought to light.
Mrs. Mariani, a 65-year-old grandmother who lives on Social Security, refused to participate in what she called the government's "hush fund." Instead, she is suing. "I am a person who wants to know what happened," said told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Money is great, but not when it comes to a loved one being murdered.