Attorneys representing victims of sexual assault at the hands of staff and clergy of the Diocese of Brooklyn offered varied views the bishop of Brooklyn’s Thursday announcement that it intends to settle all remaining cases, with some applauding the development and others calling it little more than a PR stunt.
Approximately 1,100 child sexual abuse cases remain pending against diocese clergy and staff after thousands filed suit under the Child Victims Act, the state’s lookback window temporarily removing the statute of limitations to sue over sexual assault.
Since 2017, the Diocese of Brooklyn has paid more than $100 million to more than 500 victims of sexual assault in the church. The purported forthcoming settlement could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the diocese said.
On Thursday, Bishop Robert J. Brennan said it was after speaking with the attorneys of victims that the diocese wanted to enter a global settlement in order to “expeditiously resolve” claims and avoid the time, expense and emotional strain for survivors that accompany individual trials.
Brennan said he had agreed with the attorneys for hundreds of victims to retain mediators. And in response to inquiries from amNY Law, the diocese said it was working with six firms representing clients in over half the remaining cases. “This is a process that’s been followed in other abuse and mass torts cases,” Robert Giuffra, attorney for diocese said.
However, attorneys at PCVA Law, which represents 50 victims and is not part of the “victim liaison committee,” said they have had no discussions with the diocese about a settlement, calling it a “pseudo-offer” and saying their clients were left “completely in the dark.”
“This is nothing short of a PR stunt masquerading as a settlement offer,” Anelga Doumanian, a partner at PCVA Law, said in a statement. “For years, the Brooklyn Diocese has fought tooth and nail to delay justice and escape accountability for the more than 1,100 survivors who were abused under their watch. Now, just as cases are finally moving forward and the truth is coming to light, they are attempting to pull the rug under survivors once again by announcing a global resolution that doesn’t exist.”
Doumanian said that since she and her clients have not been approached with a settlement offer yet, she and her clients are “at the courthouse steps” and ready to go to trial.
“They have fought aggressively, were strung along, and a lot are at the courthouse steps, ready to show the proof they have,” Doumanian told amNY Law. “The diocese making this announcement is really suspect in timing. They’ve lost every major court battle…Now when survivors finally have the chance to show evidence and go to trial they [announce this].”
The diocese said the settlement would likely be in the hundreds of millions.
The bishop said the diocese is “immediately” undertaking steps to amass a “substantial and sufficient” compensation fund by cutting costs.
“The process of marshalling these funds entails difficult financial choices, but the Diocese is committed to fairly compensating all meritorious claims,” Brennan said.
The diocese says it agreed with a group of victim attorneys to engage Judge Daniel J. Buckley and attorney Paul A. Finn to mediate the resolution process, Brennan said. Both arbiters have successfully mediated global sex abuse settlements in the past: Buckley for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Finn for the Archdioceses of Boston and Milwaukee, as well as the Dioceses of Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse.
Buckley is also helping to mediate sex abuse claims filed against the Archdiocese of New York, which late last year announced a $300 million fund to settle sexual abuse claims against it.
Brennan offered his “deepest apologies” to victims.
“As our global resolution process moves forward, we continue to pray for the victim-survivors,
their families, and all others impacted by sexual abuse,” Brennan said. “May the Lord our God bring healing and peace.”
