diocese

St. Clare’s pensioners want lawsuit against Albany Diocese restarted after bankruptcy filing

The legal team representing the St. Clare’s Hospital pensioners has filed a motion requesting the case be sent back to state court.

In March, the Diocese of Albany announced it was filing for bankruptcy. Bishop Ed Scharfenberger insisted that the diocese didn’t see any other alternative, after settling 50 of over 400 cases brought under the Child Victims Act.

The filing put a hold on the lawsuits involving 1,100 St. Clare’s pensioners who worked at the former hospital in Schenectady. They lost some or all of their retirement savings when, in March 2019, the St. Clare’s Corporation petitioned the state Supreme Court to dissolve, claiming it had run out of money.

Six months later, a group of advocates, including the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and the AARP, filed a lawsuit against the Diocese seeking damages for the pensioners.

In late 2022 a judge ruled the pensioner’s should merge with one filed in May by the Attorney General’s office.

Meryl Grenadier is a Senior Attorney at AARP Foundation.

“Our clients are what is considered, what is called ‘unsecured creditors’ in the bankruptcy proceeding,” said Grenadier. “And in order to obtain any money out of the bankruptcy

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May 13, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Albany Diocese says pension fight not why it filed for bankruptcy

SCHENECTADY — When the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany filed for Chapter 11 last week, it noted that its outstanding litigation with state Attorney General Letitia James and others over the collapse of the St. Clare’s Hospital pension plan is not the reason why it sought bankruptcy protection.

Rather, it was the more than 440 lawsuits that have been filed against the diocese under the state’s Child Victims Act since 2019 — 50 of which have been settled — that prompted the diocese to file for bankruptcy.

The diocese does acknowledge the ongoing St. Clare’s litigation, albeit briefly, in its bankruptcy papers filed March 15 in U.S. District Court in Albany.

But the papers note that the St. Clare’s cases, which have been consolidated in state Supreme Court in Schenectady for both discovery and trial, were “not a precipitating cause” of the bankruptcy as might be assumed.

In fact, the diocese went out of its way to try and assure St. Clare’s pensioners in a press release issued last week that the pension lawsuits are “not the diocese’s purpose for filing” Chapter 11, although it will have the effect of putting the pension litigation “on hold” during the bankruptcy

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March 21, 2023 by ATTORNEY

NY diocese facing flood of lawsuits files for bankruptcy

ALBANY, New York — The embattled Catholic Diocese of Albany became the latest diocese in New York to seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday as it faces hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger announced the Chapter 11 filing after months of negotiations between the upstate New York diocese and lawyers representing plaintiffs over a potential settlement.

The Albany diocese, like others in the state, is dealing with a deluge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations to give victims of childhood abuse the ability to pursue even decades-old allegations against clergy members, teachers, Boy Scout leaders and others.

“The decision to file was not arrived at easily and I know it may cause pain and suffering, but we, as a Church, can get through this and grow stronger together,” Scharfenberger said in a release.

The bishop said that as cases brought under the state’s Child Victims Act were settled, “our limited self-insurance funds which have been paying those settlements, have been depleted.” He said the bankruptcy filing was the best way to ensure that all survivors with pending litigation receive some compensation.

The action halts legal actions against the diocese and will allow

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March 18, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Attorney for alleged abuse victim reacts to bankruptcy filing

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Reactions continue to come in after the Albany Catholic Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Lawyers for some of the alleged sexual abuse victims said they disagree with claims from diocese leaders that they are running out of money.

Attorney Cynthia LaFave told NEWS10 that the diocese controls more than $600 million in assets. She believes the bankruptcy filing is simply meant to delay the hundreds of unsettled cases because legal action against the diocese cannot move forward until the bankruptcy proceedings are resolved.

“Now, we find that the cowardly diocese is putting itself into a bankruptcy because it wants to hide a little more and not pay a little more,” she said.

Attorneys said a committee of alleged victims will negotiate a settlement with the diocese in bankruptcy court. It’s unclear when those proceedings will take place.

The bankruptcy filing also means litigation over the Saint Clare’s Hospital pension has been paused. Mary Hartshorne, a leader for the former hospital employees, said their attorneys are now working with bankruptcy lawyers to discuss how to move foward.

Hundreds of hospital workers lost their pensions in 2018 and have joined a lawsuit from the New York Attorney

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March 17, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Victim speaks out following Diocese of Rochester sexual abuse settlement

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — With a settlement reached involving the Diocese of Rochester, decades of sexual abuse claims, and several years of litigation, one victim and her attorney are speaking out.

In 2019, the Diocese of Rochester filed for bankruptcy. It was the first in New York State to do so. Now, it will pay out $55 million to the survivors. News 8 spoke with one of them, who has served as a committee voice for more than 400 individual claims.

For years, Carol DuPre of Spencerport has spoken out about her claims of sexual abuse within the Diocese of Rochester.

In the mid 60s, DuPre says she was molested by a priest in Marion. At the time, she was around 16-years-old.

Over the years, DuPre has served as a voice for the hundreds of other victims.

“There’s a lot of hurt out there. I’m glad they’re taking the responsibility, which I hope will be taking the blame. But, I’m also hoping the other victims will find a way to find peace because I guarantee money won’t do that,” said DuPre.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney, has represented nearly 100 victims in this case, including DuPre. He calls the settlement

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November 7, 2022 by ATTORNEY
April 2024
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