BOSTON (MA)
TheBostonChannel.com
BOSTON -- Lawyers for 88 people who agreed to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Boston Archdiocese for an average of $75,000 each complained that they weren't treated as well as 554 people who received more than twice that amount in 2003.
But for another 100 people who are still waiting to settle their lawsuits with the Roman Catholic archdiocese, the road to settlement is bound to be much more difficult, lawyers involved in the cases said Friday.
The archdiocese has split those claims into two groups.
About 30 of those alleged victims will be offered arbitration to settle their claims for the same monetary terms as the first group of 88, with a low of $5,000, a high of $200,000 and an average of $75,000. But claimants in this group must first prove to an arbitrator that their claims of abuse are credible. For the group of 88, the archdiocese agreed to accept their claims and left only the amounts to be decided by the arbitrator.