Catholic Church Accused of Re-victimizing Abuse Plaintiffs

According to a Dec 30 article in the Boston Herald

The Archdiocese of Boston is using new tough litigation tactics aimed at weeding out dozens of alleged sexual abuse victims seeking settlements, plaintiff attorneys said.
Lawyers say they were notified just before Christmas that the church would begin using a new multitiered settlement structure in which only selected plaintiffs would be invited to have an arbitrator decide an award of up to $200,000 in damages.

Other plaintiffs would be deposed and have to submit evidence to prove alleged assaults took place, and also would be subject to statute of limitations and immunity defenses the church previously waived.


Plaintiffs with claims deemed dubious by church officials will not be offered the opportunity to be heard by the arbitrator at all and must file any claims in court.
“What they are doing is revictimizing the victims, and that is not fair,” said Mitchell Garabedian, who represents 55 of the more than 200 remaining church abuse victims seeking settlements.
Attorneys worry that subjecting abuse victims to aggressive examinations either will scare them away or cause irreparable emotional damage. “I worry about someone going through this process and getting rejected, and what they might do next,” said attorney Carmen L. Durso, an attorney for dozens of persons claiming abuse, one of whom committed suicide.

The complete article may be found here:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=119209&format=