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U.S. Watchdog Says Boy Scouts Should Explain $20,000 Fee for Abuse Victims’ Review

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The U.S. government’s bankruptcy watchdog said the Boy Scouts of America need to explain why it would charge an “excessive and burdensome” $20,000 fee for sexual abuse survivors to get an independent review of their compensation claims, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The youth group has proposed setting up a roughly $2.7 billion trust to settle abuse claims that drove it into bankruptcy, and survivors may stick with traditional trust distribution procedures at no additional cost. But under an option added earlier this month in a settlement with the official abuse victims committee, claimants who believe their abuse was particularly severe and merits additional compensation may ask for an independent review. Obtaining a review requires individual claimants to pay the settlement trust a $10,000 administrative fee up front, followed by an additional $10,000 immediately before the review begins. After the $20,000 fee generated immediate criticism, including from the Justice Department’s Office of the U.S. Trustee, the Boy Scouts said some of the fee could be waived in certain circumstances. Still, government lawyers said on Friday in court papers the review option is “illusory” and poses a “significant cost barrier.” In an objection filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., the U.S. Trustee said the overseer of the settlement fund may reject the recommendation of the outside reviewer. The objection also said claimants could pay the $20,000 and get an estimate of additional compensation, only to have the settlement trustee reject the higher claim amount.