Bankruptcy judge dismisses insurer’s claim

Catholic Courier ^ | Oct. 10, 2024 | Karen M. Franz

[ConservativeMind]

In an Oct. 7, 2024, decision and order, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren dismissed on its merits the Continental Insurance Company’s adversary proceeding against the Diocese of Rochester for breach of contract and denied the insurer’s application for an administrative expense claim.

Warren also ordered further in-person mediation among representatives of Continental, which also is known as CNA; members of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents abuse claimants; the committee’s counsel; and state court attorneys representing multiple abuse clients.

In a bench trial before Warren July 29-30, CNA argued that the diocese was legally bound by an unsigned proposal for a settlement agreement with CNA that the diocese had presented for court approval in May 2021, and that the diocese breached that agreement when it agreed to an alternative settlement with survivors that is incompatible with certain terms of the proposed CNA settlement.

Warren’s decision outlined numerous steps that would have been required before the proposed CNA settlement agreement would have become “effective.” After reviewing documentary and witness testimony and applying New York law, Warren held that “the unexecuted settlement agreement is not enforceable” and dismissed CNA’s adversary proceeding. Warren further found that, even if the proposed CNA settlement agreement had been effective, CNA had failed to prove that it suffered any damages as a result of the diocese’s actions.

Warren noted that the CNA lawsuit “does not advance … one inch” the diocesan bankruptcy case, now in its sixth year. He emphasized the importance of achieving a “consensual global settlement.”

“Both CNA and the state court attorneys representing the abuse victims need to reexamine the lines in the sand they have drawn and find a way to move toward a realistic framework for settlement,” Warren wrote in his ruling.

[ebb tide]

Pastor borrows parishioner's phone during church service to 'send himself nude photos of the man's wife'

Betrayed: More Details About Steve Lawson’s Double Life Revealed

Former Professor at Brite Divinity School in Texas Arrested for Alleged Possession of Child Pornography

Fake “Pastor” Says the Kingdom of God is Like a Pride Fest and a Drag Queen Reading to Children

Billy Graham’s Grandson Says Protestants Abuse Kids Just Like Catholics

How Protestant Churches Hid Sexual Abuse

A History of Sex Abuse in the Protestant Imagination

Abuse in the Protestant Church

Sexual abuse also a problem in European Protestant churches

Protestant abuse history has been swept under the carpet

Data Shed Light on Child Sexual Abuse by Protestant Clergy

Protestant Churches Grapple With Growing Sexual Abuse Crisis

Evangelicals ‘worse’ than Catholics on sexual abuse

Thousands of children sexually abused by German Protestant Church: study

German Protestant churches riddled with sexual abuse and cover-ups, report finds