“The Archdiocese of New York has been a dark, enduring, and deceptive enterprise for decades and this is the first reckoning.” – Jeff Anderson
(New York City, NY) – The Archdiocese of New York and the Plaintiff Liaison Committee[1] have agreed to recommend a proposed settlement in which the Archdiocese would pay $800 million into a trust for approximately 1,300 survivors who have brought sexual abuse claims under the Child Victims Act. The proposed settlement is subject to final documentation and full survivor agreement.
[1] The Plaintiffs’ Liaison Committee (or “PLC”) is comprised of 8 law firms that collectively represent close to 70% of the Survivor claims against the ADNY.
The proposed settlement includes four main components:
- Monetary: Approximately $615 million will be paid in the first installment and $185 million will be distributed within approximately 15 months.
- Insurance companies: This proposed settlement gives the survivors an opportunity to pursue recoveries from the Archdiocese of New York’s insurance companies. If recovered, those funds would go into a trust for survivors.
- Public disclosure of credibly accused priests and related abuse documents: The proposed settlement requires the Archdiocese to maintain their list of credibly accused clergy on their website and continue to update it with any new, substantiated abuse claims. Additionally, the Archdiocese must provide Iona University with copies of documents regarding these allegations of sexual abuse. Informing the public about these credibly accused priests will help to better protect kids in the future and let survivors who have remained silent know they are not alone.
- Temporary Stoppage: A stoppage of all litigation against the Archdiocese for the survivors and their counsel to consider terms of a proposed settlement that the Liaison Committee has been negotiating as a resolution.
“For nearly six years, the Archdiocese and its insurers, including Chubb Insurance, have been fighting the survivors. The proposed framework of a settlement is a transcendent triumph of courage by the survivors who have endured so much for so long. It is far from full accountability, but it is a measure of responsibility and required transparency by the Archdiocese that also requires the release of documents pertaining to sexual offenders.” – Jeff Anderson, attorney
This proposed settlement follows a lengthy road of over five years of litigation with the Archdiocese of New York. Over the past 4-5 months, there have been intense negotiations between the Archdiocese and the Plaintiff Liaison Committee. Today’s proposed settlement is a monumental step in the right direction.
“The proposed settlement framework represents the first, major acknowledgement of legal responsibility by the Archdiocese of New York and it’s top officials,” said Anderson. “To the survivors the credit is due – for having spoken their voice, having stood up, revealed the truth, and exposed the offenders and top officials of the Archdiocese who’ve allowed these heinous crimes to have occurred – past and present.”