BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese Fights Insurance Firm over Coverage By Robert Boczkiewicz Pueblo Chieftain [Denver CO] March 7, 2007 http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1173259568/4 The Pueblo Catholic Diocese is fighting an insurance company's contention it has no obligation to provide coverage to the diocese for lawsuits of men who claim they were sexually abused by a Catholic school teacher. The diocese wants a U.S. District Court judge to throw out North River Insurance company's lawsuit that makes the contention. North River of Morris Township, N.J., made its no-obligation contention in a lawsuit filed in October against the diocese, the Marianists Catholic order and the men. Twenty-one former students who claim they were sexually abused in the 1970s by Roncalli High School teacher William Mueller, a former Marianist brother, are suing the diocese and the Marianists in Pueblo District Court for alleged negligence. The insurance company said the diocese notified it about the men's lawsuits and requested coverage under two policies "the diocese claimed" the company had issued covering years in the 1960s and 1970s. North River said it replied that it had been unable to find the purported policies and listed several reasons it purportedly is not obligated to pay the diocese and the Marianists for the legal defense of the 21 men's lawsuits or to pay any judgments that may result. The diocese asserts the company issued "primary policies" and a $5 million comprehensive "umbrella" policy to the diocese. It says North River representatives sent letters to the diocese in March and July last year in which the company "acknowledged and accepted a duty to defend" the diocese in the lawsuits. The diocese contends the company filed its lawsuit several months later "in whole or in part for purposes of procedural fencing." The diocese's positions are in its answer filed Monday, the first court response it has made to North River's lawsuit. The diocese says it and SCA Insurance agency provided documents to North River "substantiating the existence" of the policies. The diocese contends the company's lawsuit "will increase friction between" the U.S. District Court and the Pueblo District Court. The diocese contends North River's lawsuit "is premature" and "unduly prejudicial." A diocesan official did not respond to a Pueblo Chieftain inquiry about what the diocese means by "procedural fencing" and increasing friction between two courts. The diocese denies the company's allegation that it was aware of Mueller's alleged sexual abuse. It denies it assigned Mueller to teach at the school, saying the Marianists operated and staffed the school. North River's lawsuit also is directed at a man who has sued the diocese, alleging he was molested at St. Pius X Catholic Church by former priest Andrew Burke. The diocese denied the company's allegation that it knew of Burke's alleged propensity to sexually abuse minors. A spokeswoman for the Marianists said Tuesday the order has never been served with North River's lawsuit and thus has "nothing to answer." The men who brought the lawsuits against the diocese and the Marianists have not yet filed their answers to North River's lawsuit. Among the reasons, the company claims it is not obligated is that the diocese "has failed to provide material terms" of the policies "allegedly issued by the company." Another reason cited is that the Marianists are not insured by the alleged policies. An alternative reason cited is that the diocese purportedly "knew of Mueller's and Father Burke's propensity to sexually abuse minors" before the men suing were abused, a factor that supposedly would nullify coverage. The Marianist's spokeswoman, Diane Guerra, said in October the order has not asked North River to provide coverage as a result of the men's lawsuits and has coverage through another company.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.