WISCONSIN
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Mar. 5, 2015
MILWAUKEE The judge in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy case on Wednesday dismissed nine claims brought by sexual abuse survivors, a move that a church spokesman said could affect many of the more than 570 claims filed against the archdiocese.
Another claim was allowed to go forward.
Judge Susan V. Kelley found that there was no evidence supporting the contention in the nine cases that the archdiocese knowingly allowed abusers to work in parishes or other settings where they came into contact with additional victims. She refused to dismiss a 10th case, finding that there was evidence to support the prior-knowledge claim.
The distinction is important because the Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier ruled that the archdiocese could not be sued for negligence in supervising its abusive priests and other employees but in a later case found that it could be sued for fraud if it knew of an abuser and continued to allow him or her to work and abuse others. While the ruling applied to state court, it was the basis of several cases that were put on hold after the bankruptcy was filed.
In none of the cases decided Wednesday was the archdiocese disputing that the abuse occurred. Instead, the question revolved around legal issues, including whether the statute of limitations had expired before a claim was filed and whether the archdiocese was responsible for religious order priests and other employees.
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