CALIFORNIA
Catholic San Francisco
June 5th, 2013
By Valerie Schmalz
The California state Senate narrowly approved a waiver of the statute of limitations for child sex abuse damage lawsuits – a bill that could have a devastating effect on nonprofits including Catholic Charities and Catholic schools while exempting public employers.
The legislation, SB 131, would force private schools to defend claims that may be 40 years old but forbid victims from suing any public school for abuse that may have occurred before 2009, the California Council of Nonprofit Organizations said.
“To add insult to injury, SB 131 even protects the actual abuser from being sued – the only claims that are revived are against private employers and nonprofit organizations,” said Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference.
Private employers including nonprofits would be eligible to be sued for sex abuse claims going as far back as 40 years, while all public entities as well as convicted perpetrators for whom the statute of limitations has expired would be exempt from civil lawsuits, he said.
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