OAKLAND — The Diocese of Oakland this week proposed creating a trust worth at least $117 million to help settle hundreds of lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse by its priests, in a deal that victims’ attorneys immediately labeled “pathetic.”
The diocese’s proposed payout highlighted a reorganization plan it filed late Friday to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and settle roughly 350 lawsuits from people claiming to have been abused by the Catholic church’s leaders. The trust would be funded over the course of several years and include the title to a Livermore property the church says could add tens of millions of dollars in value to the victims’ trust.
Attorneys for the sexual assault victims called the plan “a scam and a sham” on Saturday, alleging the diocese undervalued its assets as a means to avoid paying more. If approved, the payout would be less than an $880 million settlement reached last month between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 1,350 people who sued church leaders in Southern California.
“It’s what we call a cram-down plan,” said Rick Simons, an attorney for numerous sexual assault victims and co-liaison counsel for the clergy abuse cases in Northern California. “They are trying to cram down the plan into the throats of the survivors, without the survivors’ agreement or approval, because they refused to negotiate a fair plan and want to try to save money.”
“It’s a ridiculous effort to hide their assets and just not pay their debts as part of their reorganization,” Simons added. “Their amounts are pathetic.”
In a statement posted to its website, the Diocese of Oakland said the plan offered “just and equitable compensation,” while suggesting the trust’s value could grow between $43 million and $81 million when accounting for its perceived value of the Livermore property’s title. In addition, the diocese proposed giving all the rights and interests of its insurance policies to the trust, which could allow victims of abuse to seek money from the diocese’s insurers.
“We recognize that no amount of money can fully and satisfactorily compensate survivors for the abuse they suffered,” Bishop Michael C. Barber said in the diocese’s statement. “Bearing that in mind, we believe the plan compensates survivors in a fair and equitable way and allows the Diocese of Oakland to set a path forward to continue to spread the Gospel, serving the faithful and the poor.”
The proposed settlement comes amid a flood of lawsuits made possible by a recently-closed, three-year filing window, which catered to cases that had expired due to the statute of limitations. Many of the lawsuits alleged abuse going back decades against priests who were allegedly allowed to victimize parishioners with impunity.
Just months after that special-filing window closed in late 2023, the diocese responded by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move drew immediate condemnation by the abuse victims and their attorneys, whose lawsuits were effectively paused while a bankruptcy judge reviewed the church’s finances and assets.
The …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
