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A creditors’ committee representing the Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing a February 2024 deadline for survivors of alleged sexual abuse to come forward to make claims for compensation as the church files for chapter 11, WYPR News reported. Survivors and those representing them are adamantly pushing back against that proposal, stating that the deadline is too short of a time frame for survivors to be notified about the claims and, for some, to come to terms with their abuse and reach out. The deadline is unlikely to stick, and survivors and their lawyers say that they will push for a two-year window for people to come forward with claims. The bankruptcy process’s time limit on claims is a departure from what alleged victims were expecting after the passage of the Child Victims Act in Maryland. That law got rid of the statute of limitations to sue alleged abusers in civil court. However, the court put a stay on all cases against the Archdiocese after it filed for bankruptcy. Instead, the court will take into account all the assets of the church, then survivors will have a chance to file a claim for compensation. Earlier this week, the Archdiocese released a filing of its assets to the public as part of the proceedings. The church claimed that it is worth more than $200 million, which could be used to pay survivors. However, that did not account for any of the Archdiocese’s parishes’ assets.

Boston-based vegetarian fast food chain Clover Food Lab filed for chapter 11 protection Friday, WBUR reported. The company's filing in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware cited low sales, high rent and lack of funding as reasons. According to the filing, Clover is seeking relief under chapter 11 because it has not had the post-pandemic resurgence that the company hoped for. Clover started as a food truck in 2008 and over the years expanded to brick-and-mortar restaurants. The popular vegetable-focused eatery is known for sourcing much of its ingredients locally. Clover currently operates 12 restaurants, two kiosks within Whole Foods markets, a catering business and meal box production and delivery service. During the pandemic, the company pivoted to selling meal boxes to customers, and did get relief from government programs, Clover CEO Julia Wrin Piper said. The company had plans earlier this year to expand around New England and into New York, and expected to raise capital for those efforts. But those plans coincided with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and ensuing fallout, and Clover's funding efforts were unsuccessful, according to the filing.

Since Forma Brands filed for chapter 11 in January 2023, the company behind Morphe Cosmetics has undergone a round of layoffs, Hypebae reported. In October 2023, Forma Brands let go of 23 employees, with the decision taking effect immediately. The layoffs spanned several departments, including social media, creative, marketing, influencer relations and communications. It is unknown how many employees are still with the company, but Forma has since begun to outsource work to agencies to bolster its creative and marketing departments. The strategy to downsize and bring in agencies was motivated by a goal to make the business more resistant to industry challenges. This shift was a proactive attempt to adapt to the evolving landscape of influencer marketing, social media platforms and consumer trends. Despite these changes, Forma Brands still maintains key brands like Morphe and Morphe 2 in its portfolio, although Ariana Grande’s r.e.m Beauty has since parted ways with the company. In March, it had been approved for Forma Brands, the parent company of Morphe and others to be acquired by lenders.

The new president of the Boy Scouts of America plans to reverse the trend of declining membership and improve safety programs as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a sexual abuse scandal, the Associated Press reported. Roger Krone, a retired businessman and Eagle Scout, has been named as the new chief executive of the 113-year-old youth organization, replacing the retiring Roger Mosby as the top administrator. A federal judge in March upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan for the Irving, Texas-based organization, which allowed it to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting. The trust recently began paying claimants who elected an expedited amount of $3,500. Others must complete questionnaires and submit supporting documentation, and only a few payments have been made in that process. Some local Boy Scout councils have sold about 15 properties to satisfy their trust obligations. “Scouting is safer today than it ever has been,” Krone said. Measures previously taken to assure parents that their children are safe include training for adults and making sure a Scout is never alone with only one adult. Krone recently retired as president of Leidos, a $15 billion defense, aviation and information technology company based in Virginia. With an extensive background in engineering and aerospace, he previously served as president of the network and space systems at Boeing Co. Membership in the organization’s flagship Cub Scouts and Scouts fell from 1.97 million in 2019 to about 762,000 in 2021. Last year, membership was up to just over 1 million. Finances plummeted with membership, with net revenue of $319 million in 2019 falling to nearly $188 million last year. Krone predicts that in five years, the Boy Scouts of America will be twice its current size, their high adventure camps will be expanded, and scouting will be relevant to youths.

Nations Capital and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers have received bankruptcy court approval to be the agent and liquidator of Yellow Corporation's transportation assets, Truckers News reported. The companies will manage the relocation, transportation, refurbishment, inventory, storage and sale of Yellow's rolling stock assets. The sale will include about 60,000 units of trucks, trailers and miscellaneous LTL support equipment located across the U.S. and Canada at over 300 terminal locations. The two companies will implement a multi-faceted sales strategy, including private treaty and strategic bulk sales, as well as live and fully digital formats, to maximize the value of the trucks and trailers throughout 2024. For nearly 100 years, Yellow Corp. was one of the largest logistics and LTL networks in North America, with local, regional, national and international capabilities. After extended financial issues, the company ceased operations and filed for chapter 11 in early August.

Tim Hale, a Santa Barbara, Calif., attorney with Nye, Stirling, Hale, Miller & Sweet, said that the Franciscan Friars of California — which is connected to Old Mission Santa Barbara — is expected to file for bankruptcy by the end of this year, News Channel 3, an ABC affiliate, reported. “What it means to the survivors is really a loss of opportunity to one, be heard and to tell their stories, and two, to confront not only their abuser but also the men who covered up and concealed their crimes,” he said. “And that's what the bankruptcy process takes away from survivors of childhood sexual abuse.” He puts the number of local survivors at roughly 90. He added that the majority of the cases are linked to an institutional cover-up, as he is seeing the bankruptcy trend happening within Catholic churches across the country and within other organizations that face similar lawsuits. He cited one of the biggest frustrations linked to the religious institution declaring bankruptcy: “We are not going to get the opportunity, for instance, to hold the Franciscan Provincial Minister, Father Gaa, accountable for the fact that there are men who are accused of childhood sexual abuse who are still alive and who are still in ministry. We have found evidence that they still have access to children, are in public ministry as opposed to having been reported to law enforcement, and [are] being placed under limitations that [still] allow them access to children.”  Hale said he remains dedicated to helping survivors of childhood sex abuse nationwide.

WeWork rode the wave of the venture-capital frenzy, building a global real estate empire worth more than any other U.S. startup before buckling and laying off thousands when funding ran dry under its turbulent co-founder and former chief executive Adam Neumann. Ultimately, though, it was a historic office market bust that doomed the desk-rental giant, the Wall Street Journal reported. WeWork is expected to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy, which could come as soon as next week. That is barely four years after the company was valued at $47 billion and taking steps toward a highly anticipated initial public offering. That IPO was scrapped, and WeWork went public years later at a fraction of its former valuation. The seeds of WeWork’s collapse could be traced back to its late-2010s heyday, when, under the exuberant Neumann, WeWork indulged in pricey diversions such as investing in an artificial wave company and buying a $63 million jet as it sprinkled its glassy workspaces around the world. During Neumann’s stewardship, the company lost a dollar for every dollar it took in for years. Following Neumann’s departure in 2019, WeWork hired a more buttoned-up, seasoned management team. It cut most of its side investments and was freed of its co-founder’s distracting antics. But the company couldn’t escape weaknesses in its business model, which was always vulnerable to any softening in the office market. (Subscription required.)

Sinclair Broadcasting Group wants to pay pennies on the dollar to regain control of a nationwide chain of regional sports networks — which it had paid $10.6 billion to acquire four years ago only to see it fall into bankruptcy this spring, the New York Post reported. Sinclair, which owns 185 television stations in 86 markets, has offered roughly $850 million in partnership with Bally’s owner Soo Kim to regain control of its bankrupt subsidiary, Diamond Sports Group, which airs local games on TV under the Bally Sports brand and owns the rights to 39 teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL. The deal looks like a last gasp to keep the decades-old regional sports networks broadcasting on local TV. Diamond, which has been mired in bankruptcy court since March and is looking to restructure debts of up to $8.6 billion, has asked the court for another extension, from Nov. 29 to Jan. 29, to present a restructuring plan. Diamond, which operates under Bally’s Sports, has rights to broadcast 39 teams. Those solutions involve finding deep-pocketed streamers like Amazon and Apple to buy the rights, or reselling them to the individual teams.