Judge Approves $850 Million Settlement in Boy Scouts’ Case

A judge’s approval last week of an $850 million settlement between the Boy Scouts of America and thousands of sexual assault victims was made possible by a novel legal strategy based on a District of Columbia law.

However, the judge’s decision will not end legal trouble for the Boy Scouts as their insurance company resists reimbursing the entire settlement amount. The insurer, Hartford Financial Services Group, wants to cap its payout at $650 million.

The judge declined to rule on the dispute with The Hartford, meaning the Boy Scouts’ effort to emerge from bankruptcy is in jeopardy.

The settlement for about 70,000 former Scouts became possible through a 2019 District of Columbia law that temporarily waived the statute of limitations for sexual assault victims.

In all 50 states, lawsuits based on assaults of the then-children were barred by statutes of limitations. In addition, the Boy Scouts is headquartered in Texas, which has no law that would allow the claims.

As a result, lawyers representing eight victims in the class action lawsuit based their right to sue on the Boy Scouts’ “legal domicile” of Washington, D.C. The organization was founded and incorporated in Washington in 1910. Its congressional charter says it is a “body corporate and politic of the District of Columbia.”

The plaintiffs brought together the other victims under the group name of “Abused in Scouting” when they sued in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.?

Their lawyers said in a statement when the lawsuit was filed early last year that if they succeed,?“then men from all 50 states will have the opportunity to hold the BSA accountable…”

For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: [email protected] or phone: 202-479-7240.