More Lawsuits Possible for Fairfield U

By Meg Learson Grosso
The Minuteman News Center
November 20, 2013

http://www.minutemannewscenter.com/articles/2013/11/20/fairfield/news/doc528cf7cb3d396118647348.txt?viewmode=fullstory=

Paul Kendrick said that his four years at Fairfield University taught him that the practice of his faith must include the promotion of justice. “That’s what the Jesuits taught me. Why am I such a lone voice in the wilderness echoing back to the Jesuits the social justice values they taught me?” he asked when he spoke to us by phone last week.

Kendrick noted that attorney Mitchell Garabedian, of Boston, who won a $12 million settlement for 24 Haitian boys, after they were sexually abused by Fairfield University alumnus Doug Perlitz, has said he is now bringing suit for at least 27 more former students. Indeed, Garabedian told us there might be even 30 more than that.

Kendrick, who brought the Haitian boys together with Garabedian in the first place, said that before last June’s $12 million settlement, he “begged” Garabedian, and the defendants, Father von Arx, President of Fairfield University, the Society of Jesuits of New England, the Oder of Malta, and others, “to provide resources in Haiti to help the victims deal with the trauma of their abuse.”

Instead, said Kendrick a lump sum of $12 million was paid out with no provision for mental health services.

Kendrick said he knows of a culturally competent psychologist, who speaks the language, who is ready to set up the center in Cap Haitien, Haiti, when money becomes available.

Further, Kendrick said that paying each victim a lump sum of approximately $350,000, after attorney’s fees, was not wise. Nor was putting the money in a Haitian bank, where, he said, the money is not safe.

Kendrick said he doubted anyone would take $350,000 or $8 million of their own money and give it for investment to homeless youths with little or no education.

He worries that giving them the money in a lump sum puts a target on their backs for kidnapping or extortion.

Most importantly, Kendrick would like to see counseling. “It would be a pioneering effort to awaken, educate and counsel the community in Haiti about childhood sexual abuse,” he said, adding that counseling would be like a vaccine that could help Haitian community deal with childhood sexual abuse.

The homeless children who depended totally on Perlitz’s school for food and shelter were “molested and then discarded back into the streets,” he added.

“There is no amount of money that can take away the trauma of being raped,” added Kendrick.

“Out of $12 million, they could have set aside $150,000 to help the victims,” he said.

Kendrick said that Garabedian did “extraordinary” legal work on behalf of the victims. “He took the ball all the way to the 3-yard line and then fumbled,” he said.

We asked Garabedian about that comment, or if he had any intentions of helping to set up a fund, if he would consider one if there is another settlement, if he would invest $350,000 with such youths. Each time, he answered, “I have no comment.”

We called Father von Arx for comment and were referred to a university spokesman, who referred us to their attorney, Stanley Twardy of law firm Day Pitney.

We asked Twardy if he would consider setting up counseling in the next settlement, Twardy pointed out, quite rightly, that it was a big assumption to assume that there would be another settlement. “The legal claims are tenuous at best,” said Twardy.

Twardy said legal claims in the suit settled for $12 million last June were also “tenuous.” We asked why the suit was then settled for $12 million. Twardy said insurance paid the claims and that not all the $12 million came from the university; some came from the other defendants. He would not say what the proportions were.

“The university has worked with the legal system in handling the allegations of those who are victims,” said Twardy, adding of the new suits, “It is very premature to talk about settlement.”

The lawsuits settled in June, as well as the new lawsuits, allege that Fairfield University and the other defendants were negligent in their supervision of Douglas Perlitz.

Much of the financial support for the school In Haiti was raised through Fairfield University’s ministry, and its chaplain Fr. Paul Carrier.

Douglas Perlitz, a Fairfield University alumnus, was their commencement speaker in 1993. He started the school called Project Pierre Toussaint in Cap Haitien, Haiti, and is now serving an almost twenty year sentence in federal prison for the crime of traveling to have sex with a minor.

Contact: mgrosso@fairfieldminuteman.com