The Boy Scouts of America released a bankruptcy reorganization plan yesterday calling for local councils to contribute at least $300 million to a trust to settle tens of thousands of sex-abuse claims, the Washington Post reported. The long-awaited reorganization plan, filed as part of the Boy Scouts’ ongoing chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, begins to outline how the embattled organization aims to compensate the deluge of 85,000 potential victims who came forward last year with claims. But lawyers on behalf of both the victims and the group’s insurers say that they are unsatisfied with the plan. The Boy Scouts of America, which filed for bankruptcy in February 2020, had initially sought to shield its local councils from the bankruptcy process. But more recently, it became clear that any settlement was going to involve local council participation, and yesterday’s filing anticipates a $300 million contribution from some of the Boy Scouts’ 253 councils across the country. The plan did not state which councils would contribute to the fund, or how. To fund the settlement trust, the Boy Scouts of America will also contribute a collection of Norman Rockwell paintings, a warehouse facility in North Carolina, the rights to a Scouting University property in Texas, certain oil and gas interests in several states, and any unrestricted cash above a $75 million minimum.
