Judge Issues Oct. Deadline for RVC Diocese Settlement Plan

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Time is running out for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Judge Martin Glenn from the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Tuesday that the diocese must file an amended plan of reorganization, or settlement, by Oct. 31. — nearly three years after it declared bankruptcy.

The settlement must also be approved by the Committee of Survivors.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 1, 2020 after it received hundreds of sex abuse cases filed against it through the Child Victims Act.

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.

More than two years later, at least 334 plaintiffs who claimed they were sexually abused by a Diocese employee as a child, are still awaiting settlements, as the status of their cases remain idle.

At least 610 lawsuits have been filed in total.

The issue was made as Judge Glenn also dismissed the Committee's motion to dismiss the diocese's bankruptcy.

"The Court considers that the Debtor (Diocese of Rockville Centre) has only withstood the Motion to Dismiss here at this time because it took the position that it would be able to propose such a plan within a reasonable amount of time," court documents said.

Jim Stang, founding partner of Pachulski Stang Ziehl and Jones, who represents the Committee, previously told Patch that the group filed against the bankruptcy because of how long the diocese continued to push off negotiations for settlements of survivors of child sexual abuse.

"We've been in lots of mediations," said Stang about attempting to negotiate earlier this year with Jones Day, the firm that represents the diocese. "We came to our wits end. We simply could not reach an agreement with the diocese and the parishes, and we have not."

In June, Judge Glenn denied the diocese the ability to freeze claims that list its parishes. The motion allowed survivors to will be able to start pursuing their lawsuits in court against parishes.

Every plaintiff who filed a claim lists the diocese as their first defendant, and a parish and/or affiliate as a second defendant.

In January, the diocese proposed a settlement of between $185 million and $200 million to settle claims of more than 600 alleged sexual abuse survivors.

But Stang told Patch that its proposed number was too low, and was worth at least about $450 million.

The diocese later stated that the Committee's estimate was "unattainable."

In a statement to Patch, a representative for the Diocese of Rockville Centre said:

"We are grateful that the court has denied the Creditors Committee's motion to dismiss the
bankruptcy case. This decision recognizes that the only reasonable path forward is to reach a
global settlement through mediation that fairly compensates survivors and allows the Diocese
and parishes to continue their missions."

They continued to say:

"As it has throughout the Chapter 11 process, the Diocese will continue to seek and work towards that settlement."