Attorney To RVC Diocese: $200M Settlement 'Robs' Survivors

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — The attorney for a committee representing hundreds of sexual abuse survivors is speaking out against a proposed settlement by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, saying it amounts to about half of what the committee requested, and maintains the diocese isn't working with the survivors.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre proposed Friday a settlement offered between $185 million and $200 million to settle claims of more than 600 alleged sexual abuse survivors.

Jim Stang, founding partner of Pachulski Stang Ziehl and Jones, who represents the Committee of Survivors of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre said that the group proposed a settlement two weeks ago, estimated to be about $450 million.

This includes compensation from parishes, the Department of Education, the diocese cemetery, diocese insurance company Ecclesia, Diocese Seminary, and "other insured entities."

He said the diocese declined to collaborate with the committee once they proposed the settlement.

The committee's figure is an estimate, Stang said, because the diocese has yet to share its finances, or how much it can actually afford to pay in settlements.

While the diocese said in a statement Friday that their proposed plan is one of the highest in any other diocesan settlement plans in the country, lawyers for the survivors said that the nearly $200 million discrepancy between both plans "robs" the more than 600 survivors, and constitutes a "blatant effort" to "shrink" transparency.

"This isn't like there's a market value to rape. We have to deal with how much does the diocese have," said Stang. "They should pay what they can pay."

The diocese filed for bankruptcy Oct. 1, 2020, as it faced hundreds of child sex abuse lawsuits.

As Patch reported in October 2022, hundreds of sexual abuse claims remained frozen in the wake of the bankruptcy.

More than 600 have filed claims against the Diocese through the Child Victims Act, which allowed survivors of sexual abuse a window to file claims despite statute of limitations.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act in February 2019, and it went into effect in August of that year. The window to file claims was extended to July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the time of the declared bankruptcy, the diocese faced 203 cases. Since then, that amount has roughly tripled, with at least 600 claims filed, according to bankruptcy documents.

Stang told Patch that survivors waited two years for their cases to move forward, as the diocese remained in bankruptcy.

In 2021, the diocese sold its headquarters in Rockville Centre for $5.2 million, as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Per the bankruptcy court, the entire sale of the building was intended to pay the diocese's creditors.

Sean P. Dolan, director of communications for the diocese, said in a statement that the diocese plan is the quickest way to both atone to survivors and help the diocese emerge from bankruptcy.

However, Stang told Patch that the committee found out about the plan along with the public, instead of speaking about it in mediations. The committee presented a list of demands from the diocese to settle the cases, he said, but the diocese declined to mediate with them.

"Before we filed our plan, we had been waiting more than two months for them to respond to our last demand and mediation," he said. "They refused."

Stang then created a disclosure agreement on behalf of the committee, their demands all listed publically. The document asks for the Department of Education to provide $6 million, diocese insurance company Ecclesia to provide $15 million, Diocese cemetery to provide $80 million, and other insured entities to provide $200 million.

The committee asked for the diocese alone to provide $41 million.

The exact figures for compensation from parishes and other third-party entities could not be confirmed, he said, but in total add up to about $450 million.

“The Committee filed its own plan because the Diocese of Rockville Centre continues to refuse to respond to a Committee settlement offer that was made more than two months ago. The Diocese forced the Committee’s hand when the Diocese abdicated its responsibility as a party to Court-ordered mediation and as a fiduciary to all creditors,” said Richard Tollner, chair of the committee. “Tragically, some survivors who started with us have passed away but their stories and their courage have reinforced the Committee’s dedication to achieve a fair and reasonable settlement that includes protections for today’s children.”

In a statement on its website, the diocese said that the estimated value comes from itself, parishes, its co-insured Parties, and other ministry members. The figures do not include its rights against third party insurance companies, which are also being contributed under the plan.

If the diocese plan were to be approved, parishes would provide $11 million to survivors. Stang said that parishes, along with the diocese, must provide financial information to the public.

A survivor would then receive about $18,000 from the parish where the abuse occurred, he said.

"I would ask the Bishop if he thinks that being sodomized repeatedly, is worth only $18,000," said Stang. "How much would he want, if he had been raped?"

The Rockville Centre is the fourth Roman Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy in New York after the Dioceses of Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Rockville Centre is believed to be the largest diocese to file for bankruptcy.

"The Diocese believes that survivors deserve and expect a settlement now," said the Diocese in a release, "and hopes that all parties can work together to complete this equitable and unprecedented settlement offer."