An Insurance Policy Was Not in Diocesan Records, but in an Avondale Church.
By Robert Boczkiewicz
The Pueblo Chieftain
February 17, 2008
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1203231768/4
DENVER - A 35-year-old insurance policy, highly important to lawsuits of former Roncalli High School students in Pueblo who claim a teacher abused them, recently was found in an Avondale church.
The liability insurance policy, issued to the Pueblo Catholic Diocese, also is an issue in a coverage dispute between the diocese and the insurance company responsible for the policy.
The diocese and the Marianists, a religious order that operated Roncalli for the diocese, contend the policy obligates North River Insurance Co. to cover the costs of the ex-students' lawsuits.
 |
| William Mueller |
Twenty-four students have alleged in lawsuits that the diocese was negligent regarding the former Marianist teacher, Brother William Mueller, and that they were victims of his abuse. A number of the plaintiffs-students have alleged that Mueller persuaded them to help him in phony graduate-level studies, then used ether to knock them out and committed sexual assaults that ranged from fondling to sodomy.
The New Jersey-based insurance company had argued it was not obligated to provide coverage for several reasons, including that a copy of the policy - issued in the late 1960s or early 1970s - had not been found.
That changed when it was found in late January at a small Catholic parish, Sacred Heart Church, in Avondale.
As a result, North River told a judge last week it will drop from its lawsuit a claim that lack of proof of the policy's existence is a reason the company is not obligated to the diocese and Marianists.
North River's lawsuit, filed 15 months ago, seeks a judge's declaration it is not obligated under the policy.
Dropping the one claim "will not dramatically change" the lawsuit, Rachel Krayer of Chicago, an attorney for North River, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer during a court status conference on the case.
Among other reasons the company cites for not being obligated is its claim that the diocese knew of Mueller's "propensity to sexually abuse minors," a situation that purportedly would negate coverage.
The diocese has denied knowing of Mueller's purported propensity. North River has not said why it believes the diocese did know.
A worker at Sacred Heart Church said Deacon Peter Massaro found the policy. Massaro, contacted at the church, would not talk about it. Instead, he read a statement referring questions to the diocese's attorney, Brian Spano of Denver.
Spano did not respond to an inquiry. When he told Shaffer about the policy being found, he did not explain why it was at the rural church and why it was not at the diocesan office.
If the case goes to trial, it likely will be next year because of the timetable the litigants are using to prepare for trial, Shaffer said.
They still are taking testimony by depositions. The magistrate gave them until April 30 to ask the presiding judge on the case to decide the lawsuit by a summary judgment, rather than a trial.
He suggested that the attorneys try to reach an agreement that would settle the dispute.
The Marianists' attorney, William Brady of Denver, responded that the litigants have had talks about the possibility of working out an agreement to resolve the case. "They've not gone very far so far," he replied.
The diocese's attorney, Spano, said the attorneys recently met for two days with a mediator in an effort to reach a settlement. "We're all actively engaged in that," Spano said.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.