In Kc Diocese Settlement, Insurer Avoids Payment

The Sbwire
July 17, 2013

http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/in-kc-diocese-settlement-insurer-avoids-payment-284615.htm

San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/17/2013 -- The Chicago Insurance Company, a former insurer of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is trying to avoid paying for priest sexual abuse settlements.

In a federal court filing on Wednesday, the company stated that it is not obligated to cover a $2.25 million settlement between the diocese and the parents of Brian Teeman. The parents contend that their 14-year-old son killed himself in 1983 as a result of repeated sexual abuse by a priest in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Business Journal reported last week that the insurer is also seeking to abstain from paying six claims in a 2008 settlement. In this settlement, 47 plaintiffs were awarded $10 million by the diocese conceded as a result of sexual abuse lawsuits against 12 current or former priests. Each of these claims cost more than $1.6 million and were partially covered by a policy from Lloyd’s of London.

Chicago Insurance argued that he “personal injury” definition in its policy has not been meet, and even if it has, the claims come under an exclusion for battery and assault. The company also cited failure of timely notice of possible demands for coverage on the part of the diocese, stating that it heard about the Teeman lawsuit shortly before the trial began. The Teeman settlement agreement was announced just as jury selection for the trial was being conducted in a Jackson County court in Independence.

To protect some of the identities of the victims from the 2008 settlement, online court records show that complaints were sealed. There is not yet a redacted version available.

Rebecca Randles, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, explained that the new suit would not affect victims as the diocese already paid those who were part of the 2008 settlement. Furthermore, the Teeman suit was settled with the assumption that the insurer would not provide coverage. During negotiations for the Teeman settlement, the diocese understood that Chicago Insurance would likely contest paying.