CV News Feed // The Diocese of Rochester’s 4-year-long bankruptcy case continues to drag on after the judge announced that he would postpone a ruling on whether ballots can be mailed to victims and stated that a final decision may not be made until the summer.
Judge Paul Warren announced that he would not rule on whether he would allow ballots to be mailed to abuse survivors involved in an abuse suit against the Diocese of Rochester, New York, until the end of January. The ballots would be used by survivors to vote on whether they support the diocese’s settlement plan.
Since the state of New York rescinded its statute of limitations in August 2019, the Diocese of Rochester has been ensnared in a lawsuit brought forth by at least 485 abuse victims. The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month after the statute of limitations ended.
A vote by abuse survivors on a settlement plan is the first step in bringing the case to a close. If the victims approve a plan, then Warren would also need to sign off on it.
Currently, the case faces one major roadblock concerning how much money Continental Insurance, one of the diocese’s insurers, has to cover.
Early in December, it appeared that Continental was close to reaching an agreement with the other parties. However, Warren rejected the proposed plan, which Continental had agreed to.
Under the proposed plan, a $127.35 million trust fund would be created, out of which abuse survivors would be paid. The diocese and other insurance companies agreed to the plan, but Continental, however, did not agree to pay a sum that the committee of survivors found acceptable. Therefore, the diocese included an article in the proposal that would allow survivors to sue Continental in a separate state trial.
Continental filed a separate plan under which it would contribute $75 million to the trust fund in exchange for immunity in future lawsuits brought forth by abuse victims. The committee rejected the plan, saying that it still fell short of what other insurance companies were contributing.
In a December 19 hearing, Warren addressed the negotiation attempts between the diocese and Continental, saying that it was “perhaps a naïve but well-intended effort.”
He also stated that he now prefers to delay a definitive ruling until at least June 23, 2024, because there is an unrelated Supreme Court case that could influence the diocese’s bankruptcy status.
A diocesan attorney asked Warren to allow the case to proceed by having the victims vote on the plan; however, Warren argued that there are still many complexities that must be worked out before survivors could vote on a plan.
