Tort Claimants' Committee for Boy Scouts of America Bankruptcy Rejects Proposed Settlements

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Dec 15, 2021, 14:44 ET

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 14, 2021, the Official Tort Claimants' Committee (TCC) in the chapter 11 bankruptcy of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that it does not support the BSA's proposed $800 million settlement with Century and Chubb insurance companies and other previously announced settlements with The Hartford Insurance Company ($787 million) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ($250 million). The TCC, represented by Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (PSZJ), views the settlement as grossly unfair to the 82,500 survivors who were sexually abused as children. The TCC was appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee as the official representative for all survivors of childhood sexual abuse and it will not support settlements that do not deliver the justice survivors deserve.

The TCC calls attention to major flaws contained in the proposed settlement. Century and Chubb are not paying reasonable compensation for the broad releases of the sexual abuse claims. Taken together, all of the settlements announced by the Boy Scouts yield an average of approximately $28,000 for filed child sex abuse claims. The average will be further reduced by the approximately $5 billion in estimated "future claims" asserted by the Future Claims Representative. In comparison, survivors under the recently confirmed plan for USA Gymnastics will receive an average of approximately $800,000. The TCC maintains that Century and Chubb are being handed a "get-out-of-jail card" in exchange for an unreasonably low sum.

"The Boy Scouts touts this settlement and the settlements with The Hartford and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as 'historically high.' When considered from the perspective of the individual abuse survivor, these are "historically low' and the USA Gymnastics settlement underscores how pathetically low these amounts actually are," said Doug Kennedy, Co-Chair of the TCC. Dr. Kennedy added, "I cannot in good conscience support the release of a major insurance company for cents on the dollar."

The TCC originally supported a restructuring settlement agreement for a consensual plan because the BSA and the "Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice" ("the Coalition") confirmed that the primary value for survivors would be recovered through the billions of dollars in available insurance coverage. However, over the past several months, the BSA and the Coalition have changed their course and are now seeking a quick exit from the bankruptcy case by entering into settlements, most recently with Century and Chubb, that fail to capture the billions of dollars owed to the sexual abuse survivors.

"In a case involving horrific abuse of children, average payments of approximately $28,000 do not begin to justly compensate survivors," said Richard Pachulski of PSZJ. "The Tort Claimants' Committee will oppose the Century and Chubb settlements and any other settlements that fail to compensate survivors fairly," Pachulski added.

More information on the restructuring can be found at www.tccbsa.com

SOURCE Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones