BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — The Diocese of Buffalo declared bankruptcy in 2020 as it faced hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits, and in April, the diocese announced it reached a $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.
As the diocese continues its "Road to Renewal" and its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring process, 7 News has learned there's a new major development.
We learned that the Survivors Committee reached a settlement with two of the Diocese of Buffalo's insurance companies. A settlement with Wausau Insurance was reached for $37.5 million, and an $85 million deal with CNA.
“This is huge news," said attorney Steve Boyd. "This has been a long, long process for the survivors, who first showed the courage to stand up to the diocese for what happened to them as children. They have really been dragged through it through a long, long bankruptcy process.”
There are more than 900 survivors who filed child victims act cases against the diocese.
“This settlement with Wausau and CNA is a massive development in this case," Boyd said. "They came to the table in good faith, and so did we.”
A letter was sent to Buffalo's U.S. Bankruptcy court judge stating that the diocese has settled with Wausau Insurance and the diocese's largest insurance carrier, CNA, for a combined total of $122.5 million.
This is in addition to the $150 million proposed settlement the diocese agreed to back in April.
Boyd, who represents a number of the survivors, told me that the amount now stands at $272.5 million.
Boyd learned it's the “third-highest insurance settlement ever in a church abuse case.”
WATCH: 'This is huge news': Two Diocese of Buffalo insurance carriers settle with sex abuse survivors
“What are the feelings and thoughts of those survivors you are working for? Do you think this is the outcome they are trying to achieve?” I asked.
“No dollar will bring justice to these people, but I think we've been telling them that we are working very hard," Boyd said. "We've been dealing under a mediation privilege that has not allowed us to give them the numbers of where we are at, so this information, I think, gives them hope and promise that we are working toward a better settlement when we reach hopefully, which is a global settlement with all the insurance companies and all of the ententes involved.”
There are still several other insurance companies that they will try to reach an agreement with before the global settlement is hammered out.
“Our hope is we will reach an agreement with all the other insurance companies, but if we don't, that doesn't mean we can't move forward with a plan,” Boyd explained.
The diocese was to submit its final plan to the court by September 1, but an extension was requested, and the judge agreed. They now have until October 1 to submit.
