Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily halted the Boy Scouts of America’s $2.46 billion settlement following a decades-long sexual abuse lawsuit after a group of claimants appealed. did.
Alito issued a stay order “pending further order of the undersigned or the court.” The stay gives the court additional time to decide on a Feb. 9 claim by 144 abuse claimants seeking to prevent the settlement from proceeding.
The claimants are a small group of the 82,000 people who filed claims in the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy. They previously halted the organization’s bankruptcy settlement, arguing that the settlement would unlawfully prevent them from filing lawsuits against other non-bankrupt organizations, such as the church that ran the Scout program or the local Boy Scout council. asked the court to do so.
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According to Reuters, former bankruptcy judge Barbara Hauser, the trustee in charge of administering the Boy Scouts’ settlement, said the order would close all aspects of the settlement, including “assessing claims and mailing checks to abuse victims.” He said work would be halted. Nearly $8 million has already been paid out from the settlement trust to more than 3,000 men.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has temporarily halted the Boy Scouts of America’s $2.46 billion settlement based on a decades-old sexual abuse lawsuit after a group of claimants appealed. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
“This is an administrative suspension only and does not determine the merits of Plaintiffs’ application to suspend the program,” the Boy Scouts of America told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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“As BSA’s brief opposing the stay motion explained to the court, the BSA plan has already been in effect for 10 months and will fully compensate all Scouting abuse victims. Maintaining the plan now is “This will cause serious damage to both the Scouting movement and Scouting,” the group said. “Many of the abuse victims have already been waiting for decades for compensation and closure.” “We look forward to the upcoming court’s decision on the stay application. We hope the court will promptly deny the application and allow the BSA Plan Settlement Trustee to resume the work of compensating survivors. I hope.”
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a stay order “pending further order of the undersigned or the court.” The stay gives the court additional time to decide on a Feb. 9 claim by 144 abuse claimants seeking to prevent the settlement from proceeding. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
According to Reuters, Girion Dumas, one of the lawyers representing 67 plaintiffs, said, “Sexual abuse plaintiffs want the Supreme Court to issue this stay, even if it is temporary.” I’m excited about the win.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Mr. Dumas and legal counsel for the complainants and the Boy Scouts of America for additional comment.
The bankruptcy agreement was upheld last March by a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The plan would allow the Texas-based organization to continue operating while compensating sexual abuse accusers.
Boy Scout uniforms are displayed inside the Boy Scouts of America Marine Council store on July 27, 2015 in San Rafael, California. The Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in 2020 following the passage of several laws giving whistleblowers the opportunity to sue over decades of alleged abuse. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The judgment rejected arguments that the bankruptcy plan was not proposed in good faith and unfairly deprived insurance companies and survivors of their rights.
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The Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in 2020 following the passage of several laws giving whistleblowers the opportunity to sue over decades of alleged abuse. The organization has since reached a settlement, which was approved by the court in 2022. The settlement will result in payments ranging from $3,500 to $2.7 million to abuse victims.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
