By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – The Boy Scouts of America has reached an $850 million settlement with tens of thousands of men with sex abuse claims, a major step toward resolving a flood of litigation that led to bankruptcy for the 111-year-old organization.
In a Thursday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the Boy Scouts said its proposal has support from representatives for about 60,000 abuse survivors and provides a framework for a global resolution of abuse claims.
Groups representing abuse victims said in a joint statement that the accord, which requires court approval, “achieves consensus” among large numbers of claimants, as well as the Boy Scouts and more than 250 local councils.
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in February 2020 after being overwhelmed by sexual abuse claims.
The filing came after several U.S. states, including New York, removed legal hurdles that had barred people from suing over sex abuses they claimed had occurred decades earlier.
(Reporting by Maria Chutchian and Jonathan Stempel; Writing by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Ross Colvin and Leslie Adler)
