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The
proposed settlement of 82,200 claims of childhood sexual abuse
earned the support of just over 73% of those who cast votes,
falling short of the 75% the Boy Scouts were targeting, the
newspaper said.
Nearly 54,000 survivors cast ballots, the report said, citing a
Tuesday court filing and added that the current tally is not
final and marks the first of several steps along a possible path
out of bankruptcy for the Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts filed https://reut.rs/3JID2bO for bankruptcy in
February 2020, after being hit by a flood of sexual abuse
lawsuits when several U.S. states passed laws allowing accusers
to sue over allegations dating back several decades.
Those claimants are now designated creditors of the
organization, so must sign off on any plans to restructure and
exit bankruptcy. Representatives of some of the victims have
previously pushed for larger settlements.
Boy Scouts and the plaintiff's law firms did not immediately
respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The Boy Scouts has apologized and says the organization is
committed to fulfilling their "social and moral responsibility
to equitably compensate survivors."
As negotiations over a deal have dragged on, the Boy Scouts'
lawyers had warned it would have to begin selling off assets,
that would otherwise be used to compensate abuse claimants, to
pay legal fees.
(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru and Maria Chutchian
in New York; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Frank Jack Daniel)
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