Boy Scouts bankruptcy insurer settles for $800M Attorneys in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case have reached a preliminary arrangement under which one of the organization’s major insurers will give $800 million to a fund for child sexual abuse victims.
Under the terms of the agreement announced Monday, Century Indemnity Co. and affiliated entities agreed to donate $800 million to the fund in exchange for being spared of additional liability for abuse allegations. With this payment, the total amount in the proposed trust exceeds $2.6 billion, making it the largest sexual assault settlement in US history.
The accord comes as more than 82,000 victims of sexual assault face a December 28 deadline to vote on a previously publicized Boy Scouts reform proposal.
Under that idea, the Boys Scouts and it’s about 250 local councils were to contribute up to $820 million in cash and property to a victims’ fund. They would also provide the fund with some insurance rights. Local governments and national organizations would be exempted from increased liability for sexual assault claims in exchange.
The proposal also includes compensation agreements with The Hartford, another of the Boy Scouts’ largest insurers, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church and once the BSA’s largest troop sponsor. The Hartford has agreed to provide $787 million to the abuse claims fund, while the Mormons have pledged $250 million. In exchange, both entities would be free of any future obligations stemming from allegations of child sex abuse.
The Century settlement, which is subject to court approval, demands further contributions from the BSA and its local councils on behalf of authorized sponsoring organizations. They include a $40 million pledge from local councils, as well as further prospective contributions resulting from growing BSA membership as a result of chartered organizations’ long-term sponsorship of Scouting units.
“This is a huge step forward in the BSA’s efforts to fairly compensate survivors,” the Boy Scouts said in a prepared statement. “Along with ongoing discussions with other insurers, the BSA has worked hard to design a structure that would allow Roman Catholic and United Methodist churches that supported Scouting units to contribute to the proposed settlement fund to pay survivors.”
Attorneys with the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice, which represents approximately 18,000 abuse claims, noted in a press release that the Century settlement is just another incentive for claimants to vote in support of the BSA’s reform package.
“Not only is the coalition-building the greatest potential compensation fund for survivors — it’s the only fund on the table, and it vanishes with a ‘no’ vote,” noted attorney and group co-founder Anne Andrews. “The coalition also continues to work with the Boy Scouts of America on accountability and safety measures to ensure that no other child endures the terrible injuries and abuse that our clients have.”
Several other law firms, as well as the official committee appointed by the United States bankruptcy trustee to represent the best interests of all sexual assault victims, are opposed to the plan.
According to the committee, the proposal is “grossly unjust” because it only reflects a percentage of the settlement parties’ potential liabilities and what they should and can pay.
Poster Comment:
I wanted to be a Cub Scout in grade school. But you had to buy your own uniform. That was out since the old man was a cheapskate.