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PRESS RELEASE Plaintiffs’ Counsel Committee For more information contact:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Warwick, RI March 25, 2002 We heard Bishop Mulvee state in a televised interview yesterday that he "would like to see a settlement of the lawsuits filed by victims of sex abuse by priests." He stated that he hopes an agreement can be reached that balances what's being asked with what is just for all concerned." That is what we want, as well. However, it has been suggested that our demands to date have not been reasonable. We believe that our demands have not only been reasonable, but that they are consistent with the compensation amounts for which other dioceses have recently settled. Our demands our certainly less than the amounts that Bishop Gelineau, the previous Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, paid to a Father O'Connell victim in the late 1980's and a Father Marcantonio victim in the early 1990's. Although those settlements were intended to remain secret, we understand that the Providence Diocese paid each victim in excess of one million dollars. It has also been stated that the Plaintiffs are somehow to blame because they chose to "go the legal route." The Plaintiffs were left no choice but to do so when the Providence Diocese chose to cover up and to protect the child molesters, instead of dealing with them in an appropriate manner. Many of the victims we represent or their parents first approached the Diocese and only turned to the Courts when it was obvious the Diocese would not act to protect the children. Moreover, the Bishop should know that more than 90 per cent of all lawsuits filed are ultimately settled. In a good faith effort to resolve these cases we have extended various proposals to the Bishop of Providence over the years. We have proposed a high/low structure where a mediator would determine the amounts to be awarded to each clergy abuse victim subject to a minimum and maximum amount agreed to by the parties. This proposal was similar to the 15 to 30 million dollar settlement that was agreed to in Boston. We have also proposed a lump settlement for all of the Plaintiffs whereby a mediator would determine the allocation to each Plaintiff, such as we believe has just recently occurred in Connecticut. Until now, every proposal we made had been met with a flat out refusal to negotiate. In nine years of litigation the Providence Diocese has made no offer to compensate the victims for their suffering whatsoever. Instead, the Diocese has alleged that they do not have the assets to pay these claims, though public records contradict that assertion. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence owns ancillary real estate valued at over 40 million dollars. The properties include the mansion leased to a film crew to film the movie, "Meet Joe Black" and various other beach front property including at least one luxurious beach house and many undeveloped lots none of which are essential to "the church’s work." However, we realize that even extreme wealth does not necessarily indicate the availability of liquid assets. We want to believe Bishop Mulvee is sincere in wanting to settle these matters and we propose a means by which we may settle these cases in a way that meets the bishop's goal of balancing "what's being asked with what is just for all concerned." The Plaintiffs' Counsel Committee is prepared to recommend to the Plaintiffs that they accept a payment of 15 million dollars for the entire group of 38 Plaintiffs, which is to be paid within a reasonable time of settlement, and another 8 million to be paid over the next four years, without interest. We would also recommend that the Plaintiffs consider accepting the transfer of certain luxury real estate assets into a trust fund set up for them as partial payment so that the Diocese will not have the burden of liquidating such assets, if the Diocese so desires. Bishop Mulvee is to be commended for reaching out to the victims, as did Cardinal Law, and for wanting to put this painful episode to rest for all concerned. Taking him at his word when he says that he "wants to put this behind" him and "the diocese," we are ready to meet with him to do so, immediately. In the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Law, at the outset disagreed on what would be fair compensation for the losses suffered by the clergy abuse victims and was concerned over how to compensate them, but the parties came together, reconciled their differences and ultimately reached a fair and just resolution. In Rhode Island, perhaps now the time has come for reconciliation, as well, but that requires a dialogue. In response to Bishop Mulvee’s settlement overture, we are willing to sit down with him immediately to work together toward effectuating an agreement. However, since every one of our previous attempts to settle these matters have been rebuffed, if Bishop Mulvee does not begin negotiations within two days, he should not expect us to initiate another settlement proposal.
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