Judge Gives Conditional Ok To $850M Boy Scouts Of America Deal

A bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a proposal by the Boy Scouts of America to enter into an agreement that includes an $850 million fund to compensate tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as youngsters by Scout leaders and others, Randall Chase reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: While the deal improves its predicament, the Boy Scouts of America is far from getting out of the woods.

But the judge also rejected two key provisions of the deal, potentially jeopardizing the agreement that the organization had been hoping to use as a springboard to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.

Following three days of testimony and arguments, Judge Laura Selber Silverstein granted the BSA’s request to enter into an agreement involving the national Boy Scouts organization, roughly 250 local Boy Scout councils, and attorneys representing some 70,000 men who say they were sexually abused as youngsters decades ago while engaged in Boy Scout-related activities.

The agreement was opposed by insurers who issued policies to the Boy Scouts and local councils, attorneys representing thousands of other abuse victims, and various church denominations that have sponsored local Boy Scout troops.

It was not immediately clear how Thursday’s ruling will affect the future of the bankruptcy case, given that she rejected two significant provisions in the restructuring support agreement.

“Basically, everybody’s going to have to go back to the drawing board,” said Paul Mones, an attorney representing hundreds of abuse claimants. “I think this is going to cause a reset.”

While ruling that BSA officials exercised proper business judgment as required under the law in entering into the agreement, the judge refused to grant a request that the Boy Scouts be allowed to pay millions in legal fees and expenses of attorneys hired by law firms that represent tens of thousands of abuse claimants.

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