DOVER, Del. — The Boy Scouts of America began its trial regarding its proposed reorganization plan Monday at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
The trial comes more than two years after the organization sought bankruptcy protection amid an onslaught of child sex abuse allegations.
According to the Boy Scouts’ restructuring website, the plan will create a compensation fund worth $2.7 billion for sexual abuse survivors.
The number could increase “as additional settlements are reached.”
The plan also includes “a range of provisions designed to strengthen the organization’s existing youth protection protocols,” including the creation of a Youth Protection Committee and updates to membership policies.
The organization plans to assign two retired federal judges to coordinate independent claim reviews.
The plan calls for the BSA and councils to be released from further liability.
Critics of the plan say it violates the due process rights of abuse claimants and is not authorized under the bankruptcy code.
The trial is expected to stretch over several weeks as attorneys and witnesses battle over a host of complex issues, including insurance rights, liability releases, the value of some 80,000 child sex abuse claims and how such a huge number of claims came to be filed.
