ST. JOHN'S (CANADA)
Saltwire Network [Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]
June 7, 2024
By Tara Bradbury
Lawyers representing claimants against St. John’s archdiocese urge court to facilitate compensation process, saying at least nine elderly claimants have died
Lawyers representing victims of abuse by members of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s say they are concerned with the way the claims settlement process is going, and fear the longer it drags on, the fewer claimants will be left to bene t from it.
Many of the abuse claimants have died waiting for justice, lawyers Geoff Budden and Bob Buckingham told Justice Garrett Handrigan in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Thursday. Related stories Survivors of abuse by members of St. John’s Archdiocese won’t see their compensation yet ‘We’re a wounded province and it delays us all from healing’: Compensation process delays for N.L. clergy abuse survivors disappointing, says advocate Lawyers concerned over delay as insurance company wants ‘11th hour, 59th minute’ involvement in St. John’s archdiocese abuse claim process
At least nine have died since July 2020, when the archdiocese (RCECSJ) was found vicariously liable for the sexual abuse perpetrated by Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel Orphanage and other Roman Catholic clergy in St. John’s during the 1950s and 1960s.
Claimant dies
One of the claimants, a man in Ontario, died last week, after having gone through the process of detailing the abuse he experienced to le his claim.
All 367 claims against the archdiocese are in the hands of an independent adjudication panel tasked with determining a liability and value for each one.
“He’ll never know what his adjudication is,” Budden said of the Ontario claimant, telling the court he had met with the man at his home last fall. “The longer we allow this to go on, the more people that will be, unfortunately, like that gentleman.”
Delays
The adjudication process was initially expected to have been completed by the end of 2023 but was subsequently delayed until the end of June, due to the volume of claims.
Budden and Buckingham say they’ve now been told the adjudications won’t be released to the claimants until further assessment is completed; in particular, the assessment of each claim against previous compensation awards.
In some cases, the abuse victims have already received compensation through settlements with the province or the Irish Christian Brothers in Canada and the U.S., which they were asked to disclose as part of their current claim. Inaccurate amounts of previous compensation have been discovered on the claims of eight of Budden’s clients, he has told the court, describing them mainly as the result of mathematical errors and involving a discrepancy of $200 or less.
The panel has discretion when it comes to the claims of those who have received prior compensation and those led on behalf of deceased victims.
Proposed order
As representative counsel, Budden has led a formal application which he will argue in court June 28, asking Handrigan for an order that the adjudications be released to the claimants by June 29, relying on the best information it has at that point regarding any prior settlements. Their proposed order allows the claims of cer to issue a revised settlement decision if a prior settlement later comes to light.
“If undisclosed prior amounts come forward, we accept that, but please release them to us so we can review them with our clients,” Budden said.
Lawyer representing archdiocese has concerns
Representing the archdiocese, lawyer Geoffrey Spencer said he had concerns with the establishment of an arbitrary deadline for the adjudications, saying June 29 was never a court-ordered date, but a goal set by claims officer Global Resolutions Inc. for the completion of the process.
Appointed insolvency monitor Ernst and Young has been in contact with provincial government officials to get documentation regarding prior settlements with abuse victims, and the court granted its order Thursday setting out a way by which it could obtain the confidential records. It has already received consent from the majority of claimants.
Spencer argued it’s more important to do the work right than to get it done quickly.
“We’ll see how quickly the province can provide their settlement information. We don’t know at this stage, of course, when that’s going to be provided or how voluminous it will be. We don’t know if it’s going to be 10 pages that the claims officer has to look at or if it’s going to be 1,000 pages,” Spencer said.
“We will be opposing an arbitrary deadline that has been suggested.”
The judge also settled an issue Thursday raised last month by Northbridge General Insurance Corporation, which received a letter last December from the archdiocese stating it may make claims against its insurance policy as it settles with the abuse victims.
Northbridge argued it had not had a chance to participate in the drafting of the claims procedure order and had concerns with it. It applied for a court order stating claims determined under the current process are not binding on it, which Handrigan granted, though certain details are yet to be resolved.