Dozens of abuse victims from St. John’s to British Columbia, who had their claims for compensation rejected earlier this year, have won a victory in their ongoing legal battle against an insolvent Roman Catholic archdiocese in St. John’s.
In a decision released this week by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Garrett A. Handrigan ruled that 59 people who had their claims disallowed under the court-approved claims process are, in fact, entitled to compensation from the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCECSJ).
Some 367 abuse survivors applied for compensation last year to a court-appointed mediator called Global Solutions Inc., which was responsible for reviewing the submissions and determining the amount of compensation.
In July, the court approved a $105-million settlement for the victims, with an average payment of nearly $360,000 per claimant.
Dozens of claims, however, were rejected by the claims officer.
But the 59 people who appealed their “notice of disallowance” have had their rejections overturned, and Handrigan has ordered that the claims officer “determine the compensation, if any, that is due to those claimants.”
‘We’re happy with it.’
“We’re happy with it,” Geoff Budden, a St. John’s lawyer whose firm represents roughly half of the successful appellants, told CBC News on Friday.
For three years, the once-powerful archdiocese has been selling off properties — churches, parish halls and vacant land — on the Avalon and Burin peninsulas in order to raise money to compensate abuse survivors, and has realized roughly $44 million from that process, Handrigan wrote in his decision.
Lawyers for the victims are hopeful that a possible settlement with insurance companies and other third parties, including the provincial government, will contribute millions more to the settlement fund.
“That’s always been our goal,” Budden replied when asked if he believes the survivors will receive all the money they are entitled to.
Following a years’ long court battle, the archdiocese was found to be either directly or vicariously responsible for the abuse against young boys by Christian Brothers that occurred at the notorious Mount Cashel orphanage, and at the hands of clergy and members of lay religious orders for which the RCECSJ was responsible.
In October, Handrigan approved an interim payment of $22 million for nearly 300 survivors, and almost all of that money — roughly 21 per cent of their total award — has been distributed. But he withheld millions of dollars in order to fund the ongoing insolvency process and as a contingency while the appeal process was ongoing.The largest category of rejected claims involved 41 victims who had previously received settlements involving the provincial government and the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada in 1996 and 2004, respectively.
The claims officer ruled that the RCECSJ was not liable for compensating these 41 victims because they signed a document which released the corporation from further liability.
But, Handrigan said, the claims officer “erred” because the claimants released the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and not the RCECSJ.
“I find that the RCECSJ is liable at law for the abuse they suffered,” Handrigan wrote.
As is customary in such personal injury cases, however, the amount of money received in any previous settlement will be deducted from any new awards.
“If you received $100,000 in 2004 and this time the claims officer ultimately awards you $500,000, you don’t get the full 500,000,” Budden explained.
“That’s not a result that we have a problem with.”
B.C. claimants should be compensated, judge rules
Handrigan also overturned a decision that rejected the so-called “B.C. claimants.”
These 12 claimants attended two Vancouver area Catholic schools between 1976 and 2013, and allege they were abused by six Christian Brothers who were transferred to British Columbia after church officials in St. John’s learned they had been abusing boys at Mount Cashel.
The claims officer rejected the B.C. claimants, writing that there was “no factual or legal case to find RCECSJ is vicariously or otherwise liable for the alleged abuse.”
But Handrigan disagreed, saying church officials in St. John’s knew “indisputably” that the Christian Brothers transferred to B.C. had abused boys at Mount Cashel, and should have known they would continue their abuse in B.C.
As such, he ruled that the RCECSJ is “directly liable” for the abuse endured by the B.C. claimants.
The six other successful appeals involved four cases in which there was dispute over the definition of sexual misconduct, and two female complainants who were abused by nuns. In all six cases, Handrigan ruled that “the RCECSJ is liable either directly or vicariously to the 59 claimants in damages.”
Selling off properties
It’s expected that it will take several months for the claims officer to review the files of the 59 survivors, and to determine an amount of compensation, if any, they should receive.
Handrigan’s decision is just the the latest chapter in a decades long controversy that has rocked the Catholic faith in Newfoundland and Labrador, and further advances efforts by victims to be compensated for the abuse they endured.
Initially, it was thought there would be about 100 victims, and some $50 million would be required to settle their claims.
But the number of claims received by the Sept. 30, 2023 deadline was more than three times that amount.
According to Handrigan’s decision, more than $44 million has so far been raised, which is less than half of the $104-million settlement.
A separate legal battle is continuing over whether two insurance policies will help cover some of the cost of the settlement, while some lawyers have signalled that the provincial government should should kick in some cash for victims who were wards of the state or in cases where abuse was related to the provincial education system.
Earlier this fall, Handrigan endorsed a plan to distribute an “interim” payment of roughly $22 million to about 300 victims.
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