Diocese of Rockville Centre's $200M settlement rejected by 86% of childhood clergy sexual abuse survivors

At least 86% of childhood clergy sexual abuse survivors voted to reject what the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s called it “final” settlement offer of $200 million, according to new court documents.

The diocese announced a week ago that the survivors “overwhelmingly” turned down the proposal, but the new documents provide more specific numbers.

In one of the main categories of survivors, the vote was 209-34, or about 86% against. In another category, the tally was 131-19, or 87.33% against. The results were released by Epiq, a court-approved global technology company that conducted the balloting. Voting ended April 12.

The diocese needed 75% support from survivors to have the proposal approved, said James Stang, the main lawyer representing the survivors in the diocese’s bankruptcy proceedings. Instead, the opposite result came in.

Stang said he was not surprised, “given the inadequacies of the plan.”

“A lot of people voted,” he said. “This wasn’t 10 people and that 85% of them voted no.”

He estimated the total number of cases still pending against the diocese is about 500. Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the diocese, said the number is about 600, and 471 of those people voted. Some ballots did not count due to technicalities. 

Jordan Merson, a Manhattan-based attorney representing some of the survivors, called the vote a huge victory for them.

“The diocese’s strategy has now completely backfired,” he said. “They are moving to dismiss their own bankruptcy. So now they will have spent around 100 million dollars [in legal fees] for absolutely nothing. They have nothing to show for it.”

The diocese said last week, after its proposal was rejected, they thought it was fair, and going another route would leave survivors with less money or in some cases none.

The diocese has “cut budgets to the bone to provide the best possible offer they could in good faith” while also continuing its Catholic mission to provide spiritual, educational and charitable support to Long Islanders, Dolan said in a statement.

The survivors “have chosen the path of litigation, one case at a time in New York State Court,” he said. “Regrettably, this may result in little or no compensation for many survivors, the opposite of why the Diocese entered this process over three years ago.”

Some attorneys, including Merson, believe the total payout would be substantially less than $200 million for various reasons such as the possibility insurance companies won’t pay. Stang’s survivors' committee has estimated it at less than $135 million.

Dolan said Friday the diocese stood by its statement that it would pay out $200 million not including insurance. 

The diocese declared bankruptcy in October 2020, saying that potential payouts from sexual abuse cases filed in state civil court could leave it in financial ruin. The cases were then moved to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Lawyers for the diocese have been negotiating with the survivors since then to reach a settlement. Stang and the survivors committee have proposed a settlement of $450 million.

The cases stemmed from the 2019 state Child Victims Act, which opened a one-year window allowing people who were abused as children to file lawsuits against their perpetrators regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. The window was later expanded to two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is unclear what will happen next. The diocese has filed a motion to dismiss the bankruptcy proceedings. If the judge grants the diocese’s request, one possibility is that the cases end up back in state civil court.

A hearing on the diocese’s request is scheduled for May 9.