BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News
Septemer 11, 2020
By Jay Tokasz
Sexual abuse victims will have until next August to file a claim against the Buffalo Diocese in federal bankruptcy proceedings.
Chief Judge Carl L. Bucki of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of New York ruled Friday that the bar date for abuse victims to submit claims should be the same day that the extended Child Victims Act expires – Aug. 14, 2021.
Bucki also ruled against a request by the diocese to push the bankruptcy proceedings into mediated settlement talks.
Bucki said in his written ruling that such negotiations among the diocese, its insurers and its creditors would be premature because the diocese doesn’t know the full nature and extent of the abuse claims being brought against it and has yet to fully investigate and document historical insurance policies that were in place and might provide coverage on the claims.
The diocese earlier had sued eight insurance carriers in bankruptcy court, and Bucki’s decision means the litigation will move forward. The judge said he aimed to “advance essential exchanges of information” by ordering discovery to proceed, and he warned both parties that “now is not the time to procrastinate in working for a just and fair resolution of rights.”
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