The Boy Scouts of America reached an $850 million settlement Thursday with tens of thousands of people who say they were sexually abused when they were Scouts over decades and later sued in a case that rocked the historic institution.
The settlement, which came after the organization filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year while facing mounting legal costs over the abuse claims, is one of the largest of its kind in a child sexual abuse case in U.S. history. The lawsuit involved more than 84,000 people who claimed sexual abuse dating as far back as the 1960s.
The agreement — the first legal settlement in a litany of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts — is more than double the group’s initial proposal to victims in March. The organization is facing roughly 275 abuse lawsuits and 1,400 potential claims.
But while the settlement was celebrated by some, other lawyers involved in the lawsuit said the deal would fall far short of what abuse survivors deserve.
At issue is the lack of transparency around how much each of the Boy Scouts’ nearly 300 local councils are worth and contributing to the settlement. Without that information, he said, there’s no way of knowing whether survivors are getting a fair settlement.
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/07/02/boy-scouts-settlement-abuse-victims/