Federal judge finds for insurance company in suit against Milwaukee archdiocese on abuse claims

November 10, 2014

A federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled in favor of an insurance company’s challenge that it should not be compelled to pay sex-abuse claims incurred because of negligence by Church officials.

OneBeacon, which provided liability coverage for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, had won a lower court ruling that the company should not be required to pay sex-abuse claims. The archdiocese had appealed that ruling. But when the archdiocese entered bankruptcy in 2011, the bankruptcy court judge placed a hold on that court ruling. Judge Rudolph Randa ruled that the stay should be lifted.

“In essence, OneBeacon is being held hostage, forced to bankroll an interminable and highly contentious bankruptcy proceeding,” Judge Randa ruled. He said that the insurance company was likely to prevail in its suit against the archdiocese, and should be allowed to proceed with the claim without waiting for the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings.

A spokesman for the Milwaukee archdiocese said that the court ruling might prove irrelevant, because OneBeacon has already reached an out-of-court settlement with the archdiocese on the payment of insurance claims.

 

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Further information:

• Judge rules for insurer in archdiocese bankruptcy issue (Journal-Sentinel)