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Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese settles abuse claims for $
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Steven Robinson
AP via San Francisco Chronicle - Jul 14, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/14/state/n201648D62.DTL
Los Angeles archdiocese to pay $660M to settle abuse claims
By Gillian Flaccus
Associated Press Writer
Los Angeles -- The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese has settled
its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the
church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press has learned.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the plaintiffs
reached the deal Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's
attorney. The archdiocese and the plaintiffs will release a statement
Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660
million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse
scandal. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the
settlement had not been officially announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per
plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between
$600 million and $650 million.
Some Roman Catholic orders - the Servites, Clairites and Oblates - will
be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the
source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential
priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the
litigation, Boucher said.
The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since
1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from
the Los Angeles archdiocese.
It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the
insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A
judge must sign off on the agreement.
The release of the priest documents was important to the agreement,
Boucher said, because it could reveal whether archdiocesan leaders were
involved in covering up for abusive priests.
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he
said.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the archdiocese, did not immediately
return a call seeking comment late Saturday. Previously, he said the
church would be in court on Monday.
Plaintiff Steven Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first
trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He sued the
archdiocese claiming abuse by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died
in 1987.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in
less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be
compensated," he said. "I hope all victims will find some type of
healing in this process."
The settlement is the largest ever by a Roman Catholic diocese since the
clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest
payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for
$100 million.
Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses - Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane,
Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego - sought
bankruptcy protection.
The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic
orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far. The
largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60
million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the
mid-1950s and after 1987 - periods when it had little or no sexual
abuse insurance.
Several religious orders in California have also reached
multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the
Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had
remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the
outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked
for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that
the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and
considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to
raise funds for a settlement.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overseeing the cases recently
ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on
schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.
The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive
damages - something that could have opened the church to tens of
millions of dollars in payouts if the ruling had been expanded to other
cases.
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
Support this work, visit our sponsor http://www.blythe-systems.com
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Hash: SHA1
Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese settles abuse claims for $
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Steven Robinson
AP via San Francisco Chronicle - Jul 14, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/14/state/n201648D62.DTL
Los Angeles archdiocese to pay $660M to settle abuse claims
By Gillian Flaccus
Associated Press Writer
Los Angeles -- The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese has settled
its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the
church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press has learned.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the plaintiffs
reached the deal Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's
attorney. The archdiocese and the plaintiffs will release a statement
Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660
million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse
scandal. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the
settlement had not been officially announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per
plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between
$600 million and $650 million.
Some Roman Catholic orders - the Servites, Clairites and Oblates - will
be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the
source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential
priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the
litigation, Boucher said.
The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since
1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from
the Los Angeles archdiocese.
It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the
insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A
judge must sign off on the agreement.
The release of the priest documents was important to the agreement,
Boucher said, because it could reveal whether archdiocesan leaders were
involved in covering up for abusive priests.
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he
said.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the archdiocese, did not immediately
return a call seeking comment late Saturday. Previously, he said the
church would be in court on Monday.
Plaintiff Steven Sanchez, who was expected to testify in the first
trial, said he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He sued the
archdiocese claiming abuse by the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach, who died
in 1987.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in
less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be
compensated," he said. "I hope all victims will find some type of
healing in this process."
The settlement is the largest ever by a Roman Catholic diocese since the
clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest
payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for
$100 million.
Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses - Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane,
Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego - sought
bankruptcy protection.
The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic
orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far. The
largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60
million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the
mid-1950s and after 1987 - periods when it had little or no sexual
abuse insurance.
Several religious orders in California have also reached
multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the
Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had
remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the
outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked
for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that
the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and
considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to
raise funds for a settlement.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overseeing the cases recently
ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on
schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.
The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive
damages - something that could have opened the church to tens of
millions of dollars in payouts if the ruling had been expanded to other
cases.
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
Support this work, visit our sponsor http://www.blythe-systems.com
Subscribe: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
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