Archdiocese Wins Partial Reimbursement on Sex Abuse Claims

By Megan Spicer
Connecticut Law Tribune
August 5, 2016

http://www.ctlawtribune.com/home/id=1202764475944/Archdiocese-Wins-Partial-Reimbursement-on-Sex-Abuse-Claims?mcode=1202617073650&curindex=2&slreturn=20160711022038

The Hartford Archdiocese was issued a victory when a federal judge ordered its insurance company to reimburse the church for the money paid as part of sex abuse settlements.

U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton found July 28 that Interstate Fire and Casualty Co., the church's insurer, breached its contract. She ordered the insurer to pay $945,000, which includes damages as well as interest.

The church paid out more than $2 million across four settlements between 2010 and 2012. The victims had claimed they were abused by Fathers Robert Ladamus, Stephen Crowley and Ivan Ferguson between 1977 and 1984 or 1985.

The archdiocese sued Interstate in 2012, saying it had reached out numerous times on the claims and heard little back in terms of reimbursement. The insurance company had previously reimbursed the archdiocese for other settlements similar in nature, the suit alleged.