U.S. Department of Labor notifies former employees of Hood Building in Cambridge, Mass., of new special exposure cohort designation

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor would like to notify all former Hood Building workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

An employee who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. The new SEC class of former employees includes all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked in the Hood Building in Cambridge, Mass., from May 9, 1946, through Dec. 31, 1963, for at least 250 workdays, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC.

To date, more than $4.9 billion in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible claimants nationwide under the act. For additional information about the new SEC at the Hood Building or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, please contact the Labor Department's New York Resource Center toll-free at 800-941-3943.

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