Boy Scouts to  exit bankruptcy after abuse settlement approved

A bankruptcy judge has accepted the Boy Scouts of America's $2.46 billion reorganisation plan, which would allow the organisation to continue operating while compensating tens of thousands of men who claim they were sexually molested as youths while active in Scouting.

Though legal obstacles remain, Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein's decision in Delaware on Thursday marked a major milestone for the Boy Scouts, who filed bankruptcy protection more than two years ago to avoid a wave of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers.

BEST VPN SERVICES AVAILABLE

The amount an individual survivor may receive from the bankruptcy plan, according to lawyers for some of the victims, is dependent on a number of variables related to the alleged abuse. The concept calls for the organisation and its local councils to contribute to a fund for survivors, along with settlement insurance firms and troop-sponsoring entities like as Roman Catholic institutions and churches. In exchange, such organisations would be protected from future litigation stemming from Scout-related abuse charges.

Early on, attorneys for the organization's insurers asserted that the sheer volume of claims indicated fraud and was the product of aggressive client solicitation by attorneys and for-profit claims aggregators. Although some of those insurers ultimately reached settlements, others remained opposed to the idea. They contended that the procedures for distributing monies from the compensation trust would violate their contractual right to oppose claims and would set a dangerous precedent for mass litigation.

follow for more web stories

follow for more web stories