Boy Scouts Slam Report Challenging Chapter 11 Sex Abuse Settlement Plan

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Boy Scout Bankruptcy Overview: 

• Who: Boy Scouts of America has slammed a report on its Chapter 11 exit plan filed by representatives of those who were sexually abused. 
• Why: The Boy Scouts say the representatives are not acting in their clients’ interest by holding up its Chapter 11 plan that would see the establishment of a $1.9 billion fund for Boy Scout sexual abuse survivors.
• Where: The Boy Scout bankruptcy is proceeding in Delaware court.

Representatives of the Boy Scouts of America say they are “in disbelief” at a report filed by those acting on behalf of those were sexually abused that says there is not enough support from survivors to approve the Boy Scouts billion-dollar settlement plan.

In a response filed Jan . 11 in a Delaware bankruptcy court, Boy Scouts of America said the tort claimants committee (TCC) was acting against the interests of the sexual abuse survivors its represents by holding up approval of its settlement plan.

“The Debtors question how the collective interests of survivors in a Plan proposing a Settlement Trust with over $2.69 billion in cash and notes, plus valuable insurance rights, are served by a committee that seeks not to safeguard this value, but to eschew it,” the Boy Scouts said. 

The Boy Scouts argued that the TCC was acting in its own interests by holding up the plan, which it says 85 percent of individual abuse survivors who voted via direct ballot had voted in favor of.

“If the TCC is successful, survivors will receive virtually no recovery in these Chapter 11 cases and the only ‘winners’ will be the TCC’s professionals and those state court lawyers that believe public destruction of the debtors’ plan will yield more for them in individual negotiations pertaining to their cases,” the Boy Scouts said.

TCC Required To Place Interests Of Constituents Above Personal Stakes, Boy Scouts Say

As an official committee, the TCC’ s members are required to place the interests of its constituents above their own personal stake in the bankruptcy case, the Boy Scouts said.

If approved, the $2.7 billion sexual abuse compensation fund will be the largest in the history of the United States, according to the Boy Scouts.

Under the Scouts’ proposal, those who filed claims in the organization’s ongoing bankruptcy proceeding will receive settlements according to the severity of their cases and when the alleged abuse occurred.

The Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 protection in February 2020 while hundreds of lawsuits were being filed against the organization over sexual abuse allegations dating back decades. Since then, claims of sexual abuse have been as high as 95,000.

What do you think of the latest Boy Scouts of America’s deal to help settle claims with abuse survivors? Let us know in the comments below or go here to seek legal recourse.

The Boy Scouts are represented by Derek C. Abbott, Andrew R. Remming and Paige N. Topper of Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP and Jessica C. Lauria, Michael C. Andolina, Matthew E. Linder, Laura E. Baccash and Blair Warner of White & Case LLP.

The tort claimants committee is represented by Richard M. Pachulski, Debra Grassgreen, Alan J. Kornfeld, Iain A.W. Nasatir and James E. O’Neill of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP.

The Boy Scouts Chubb Deal is In re: Boy Scouts of America and Delaware BSA LLC, Case No. 1:20-bk-10343, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Boy Scouts Secure $800M from Insurer to Fund $2.7B Sex-Abuse Compensation Fund
• Boys Suffer High Degree of Unreported Sexual Violence, Study Finds
• Adults Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood in California Seek Their Day in Court
• What is the Background Check Policy for Youth Organizations?