(Saint Paul, MN) Today, in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, survivors and their attorneys reached a partial settlement with the Boy Scouts of America. The 111-year-old organization and its local councils across the country will pay $850 million to tens of thousands of survivors of sexual abuse.
The $850 million settlement is only a partial resolution that includes the National Boy Scouts of America and its local councils, which is only one part of the overall liability associated with decades of childhood sexual abuse within these scouting programs. Under the proposed deal includes payment by the national BSA organization in the amount of $250 million, made up of cash and other assets, and payment from the combined local council group totaling $600 million in cash and property.
This is an important step, but this case is far from over. Even though the Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy over a year ago, and this agreement is the result of long and difficult negotiations, there are crucial parties who did not participate in this agreement and still need to come to the table. Those insurance companies and other responsible parties continue to deny any responsibility for the abuse inflicted on children in scouting for over a century, which is completely unacceptable.
The lack of insurance participation in this agreement signals the battle that is yet to come with the insurance companies on this case. While the BSA and its councils paid insurance premiums for generations to provide coverage to children who participated in their programs for injuries they might suffer, it is clear that the insurance companies do not intend to pay anything to those former scouts for those covered injuries without an epic legal battle. The attorneys at Jeff Anderson & Associates expect the insurers to make every effort to draw this fight out as long as possible, an affront to the legal system that is intended to cause further harm to these survivors who have already been through so much. We remain optimistic that when the dust settles, there will be far more compensation added to this total coming from other sources who did not participate in the agreement announced today.