This Is a Monumental, Unprecedented Achievement by the Survivors Requiring the Archdiocese of New York Enterprise to Account & Take Responsibility for the Massive Institutional Failures of the Past That Permitted Predators to Abound
(New York, NY) – Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their attorneys have agreed to an $800 million settlement with approximately 1,300 survivors of the Archdiocese of New York. All survivors who filed claims against the Archdiocese of New York have agreed to the settlement plan.
“The $800 million payout by the Archdiocese of New York is far from a full measure of justice. For the horrors inflicted, for decades, it does mark a momentous moment of real reckoning.” – Jeff Anderson
The New York Child Victims Act, passed by the New York Legislature, Allowed Survivors to Bring Civil Claims
The Child Victims Act gave voice to survivors, and it was a shift in public policy in New York, made by lawmakers to protect children and the wounded instead of the perpetrators and those that protected them. It allowed them to come forward, to give voice, to bring suits, to hold the offenders, and those that permitted it to occur to be accountable in courtroom in a way the law had never allowed before. It resulted in an unprecedented surge of claims. Now, in the Archdiocese of New York, is forced to reckon with each of them individually and in this settlement.
We are privileged to stand with the courageous survivors after decades of oppression, secrecy, silence, and shame and allow them to recover their power. And to do what can be done to not only give them a better chance at life, but to do something to protect others in the future – born and yet to be. It is a daunting task to bring suit against this powerful institution for each of these survivors. And it is this institution, through its battalion of lawyers, that, for over six years, have fought them daily, in every way legally possible. Now, this settlement marks a victory and a validation of their courage, persistence, and power. The survivors, who not only survived childhood sexual abuse, but forged together and found some measure of triumph, standing against denial, resistance, hardball litigation tactics, and the battalion of lawyers hired by the Archdiocese for over six years. This is a triumph of power, persistence, and pain.
Threats of Bankruptcy and Filing Chapter 11 by the Archdiocese Forced them to the Bargaining Table in Mediation
The survivors, and through this settlement have forced the disclosure of the sordid histories by the clergy and lay leaders in the Archdiocese, never before exposed, or held to account. The Archdiocese’s strategy was to deny, minimize, and blame others. After years of litigation, and jury trials soon to begin, this mediation is now brought some measure of accountability, responsibility, help, and healing (in some ways) for wounds, most of which can never be healed. On the eve of jury trials, after years of litigation, the survivors have put enormous pressure on the Archdiocese, through the crucible of the courtroom, as the trials were drawing near, this year in the face of that pressure, the Archdiocese of New York threatened Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Catholic bishops across the country have used this device to delay justice, avoid public scrutiny, the disclosure of damning documents in their files by top officials for decades. The New York dioceses that have used, and are using Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in Rochester, Rockville Centre, and Syracuse, (all of which have settled). The Diocese of Ogdensburg and the Diocese of Buffalo are still pending after over five years, where thousands of survivors await some relief and or resolution.
Mediation and the Settlement Process
In the face of the threat by the Archdiocese of New York to use Chapter 11 to further harm the survivors, and stop them in their tracks, settlement negotiations began. The Archdiocese and a group of the leading lawyers in handling these cases in New York, formed a Liaison Committee to negotiate on behalf of all the survivors. The Liaison Committee was composed of the following firms:
- Jeff Anderson & Associates, P.A.
- Herman Law Firm, P.A.
- Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, P.C.
- Slater Slater Schulman LLP
- Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
- Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC
- Merson Law PLLC
- Paul Mones, PC
The mediation is conducted and the parties agreed to mediation by an experienced mediator and judge, Daniel Buckley, of Signature Resolution. For almost one year, the parties engaged in confidential, rigorous, hard-fought negotiations. While, many of the survivors’ cases awaiting trial were delayed or stayed. Judge Buckley has mediated and has experience in handling sex abuse claims across the country. He worked tirelessly with other lawyers, the Liaison Committee, and survivors to forge this deal. Under the threat of Chapter 11, which stops all litigation and requires all the survivors to make claims in the bankruptcy court as “creditors”. The Catholic Bishops has a history of using this artifice to delay justice, deny, and suppress the value of claims, avoid public disclosure of damning documents in the files regarding sexual abuse histories and the role of top officials in permitting it to occur.
Settlement Terms
- Archdiocese to take responsibility for the harm caused to the 1,300 survivors by the payment of $800 million.
- Each individual claim to be evaluated, by an experienced and neutral judge/allocator, to uniquely determine the value of each claim based on the nature of the abuse and the harm done. The allocator will both review the claims and materials pertinent to it, so that each survivor gets individual scrutiny by a neutral party of his or her claim. It’s a process that begins almost immediately.
- Non-monetary Provisions.
- The Archdiocese to publish the identities of every credibly accused offender, and to be updated and monitored in the future.
- Disclosure of the priest offender files that have been kept secret and under seal, to be disclosed publicly in a database at the conclusion of the litigation.
- There is an option for some survivors to opt to receive a “quick-pay option” of immediate payment of $250,000, and remove themselves from the allocation process.
Negotiation and Prosecution of Claims Against Non-Participating Insurance Company, Chubb Insurance Group
The Chubb Insurance Group, aka Century indemnity, is the major insurer of the Archdiocese of New York, and its entities – and has been for decades. In this litigation has refused to participate, and negotiate. As a result, the Archdiocese of New York commenced litigation against Chubb Insurance Group (The Archdiocese of New York et al v. Century Indemnity Company, as successor to CCI Insurance Company, as successor to Insurance Co. of North America and as successor to Indemnity Insurance Company of North America et al, Index No. 652825/2023 (New York County Supreme Court) In this settlement, the survivors have a beneficial interest in the outcome of that litigation, against Chubb, when it is either resolved, and are settled in the future. The details of that are to be released later. Under the terms of this deal, survivors will have a beneficial interest in the insurance litigation, and a conclusion of those claims in the future.
Reactions & Quotes from Survivors with Whom We Have the Privilege to Stand and Work in Reaching This Resolution, and in Gratitude to Them:
“Now I can know that kids in our community are safer.”
“The whole process of speaking out after decades of self-destruction, self-loathing has lifted me out of darkness and into some light.”
“My soul was shattered, my family broken, my innocence lost – it can’t be undone. This deal won’t do it. It does give me a better chance this late in life, for a better life.”
“It is the persistence, power, and courage of the survivors on whose shoulders we stand and who the credit is due.” – Jeff Anderson