Northwest Jesuits will pay $166 million to sex abuse victims in bankruptcy settlement

Northwest Jesuits will pay $166 million to sex abuse victims in bankruptcy settlement March 25, 2011

Bryan Denson, The Oregonian The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers have agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests.

The payout is one of the largest ever made by a religious organization in the United States to abuse victims. The settlement, part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, is designed to restore financial stability to the Portland-based province....

Creditors include about 460 people with sexual-abuse claims against priests and another 15 or 20 with physical-abuse claims, Tamaki said. They are expected to vote in favor of the settlement some time in the next 45 days, with payments likely reaching them by early fall, he said.
Tamaki's firm, headquartered in Yakima, represents nearly 100 people who he says were sexually abused in Washington and Montana.

"For them, it's a record-breaking settlement and a day of justice for Native Americans who were sexually molested," he said....
Under terms of the global settlement, the Northwest's Jesuits, formally known as the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, will pay $48.1 million and their insurer will pay $118 million. About $6 million from the settlement will go into a pool for future claims, he said.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/northwest_jesuits_will_pay_166.html

Washington woman says Jesuit priest abuse 'every single day ... was a nightmare' March 25, 2011, The Oregonian By Kimberly A.C. Wilson
....This morning, three years after she came forward as the initial plaintiff in a 21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s -- a suit filed three months before the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus declared bankruptcy -- Mendez, now 55, is poised for a measure of justice.

The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, including Mendez.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/washington_woman_says_jesuit_p.html


21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s
http://media.oregonlive.com/portland_impact/other/10%20-%20Amended%20Complaint%20for%20Damages.pdf