An additional 9,000 individuals claiming they were sexually abused while in the Boy Scouts of America voted in favor of a $2.7 billion compensation plan, pushing support for it to nearly 86% of all ballots cast ahead of a bankruptcy-court trial next week, the Wall Street Journal reported. The additional votes among the roughly 82,200 individuals who have filed sexual-abuse claims against the youth group increase its chances of winning approval for the settlement from Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., at a trial scheduled to begin today. The final tally released late Thursday puts the Boy Scouts over a self-imposed target of three-quarters support from abuse survivors. While bankruptcy law generally requires two thirds approval from creditors for a proposed deal, chapter 11 cases involving mass injury and tort liabilities typically have to garner greater support. The Boy Scouts have said that 75% approval from survivors would ease court approval, while anything less could make the bankruptcy plan more vulnerable to legal challenges from objectors. Read more. (Subscription required.)
In related news, the Boy Scouts of America’s plan for resolving 82,200 claims of childhood sexual abuse is being opposed by some insurance companies that worry some victims’ claims may not be worth as much as what the youth group says they are, the Wall Street Journal reported. Several liability insurers have said the Boy Scouts’ chapter 11 plan pegs the value of abuse claims at higher levels than what victims likely would get in state-court lawsuits or private negotiations, and that those estimates could be used by victims to extract more money from them. The Boy Scouts have said in court filings that the estimates of values of claims and the process established under its plan to award payouts mimic what victims would experience in the state-court system. Read more. (Subscription required.)
