Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America are asking a Delaware judge to approve an $850 million agreement that is the foundation of the group’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy.
The judge was to begin a hearing Thursday on whether to approve the agreement, which involves the national Boy Scouts organization, the roughly 250 local Boy Scout councils, and law firms representing some 70,000 men who claim they were molested as youngsters by Scoutmasters and others.
The Irving, Texas-based Boy Scouts sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020 amid an onslaught of lawsuits by men who said they were sexually abused as children. The filing was part of an attempt to reach a global resolution of abuse claims and create a compensation fund for victims.
The Boy Scouts have proposed contributing up to $250 million in cash and property to a fund for abuse victims. Local councils, which run day-to-day operations for Boy Scout troops, would contribute $600 million.
The national organization and councils also would transfer their rights to Boy Scout insurance policies to the victims fund. In return, they would be released from further liability for abuse claims.
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The proposed agreemen is opposed by insurers that issued policies to the Boy Scouts and local councils, other law firms representing thousands of abuse victims, and various church denominations that have sponsored local Boy Scout troops.
As part of the agreement, the Boy Scouts are seeking permission from the judge to back out of a settlement reached in April with one of their insurers, The Hartford. The Hartford agreed to pay $650 million into the victims fund in exchange for being released from any further obligations, but victims attorneys have said their clients won’t support a reorganization plan that includes it.
In addition to the class-action lawsuit related to child sex abuse, the organization’s precarious financial state and ultimate bankruptcy had other contributing factors.
As reported by The Roys Report, Boy Scouts of America has lost over two million members over the past eight years. In 2013, the group began to change its policies, soon allowing openly gay scout leaders. Many churches subsequently dropped their affiliation, with some restarting their scouting programs through Trail Life USA.
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2 Responses
In cases of historic abuse, of course the abusers are criminals, but I wonder if 1. children were believed by authorities, their parents or society, 2. if police investigated complaints seriously, and welcomed such complaints. 3. if charges were laid whenever warranted, 3. if courts gave proper sentences. If none of this happened, then it is hardly the Scout’s problem, it is societies’ and the government’s problem, and the public purse should meet the compensation. The assets of convicted abusers could also be applied to the compensation fund. As it is, we end up exacting compensation from those who did nothing wrong.
The BSA went woke, went broke and now wants others to pay for its past sins through insurance.