Bankruptcy on the table as Boy Scouts confront sex abuse claims
Earlier this month, Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh acknowledged media reports that the group was considering Chapter 11 protection, saying it’s “exploring all options available” to ensure that scouting programs continue uninterrupted. Nothing’s been decided, said Boy Scouts spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos in an email. “It’s due diligence for an organization whose motto is ‘be prepared’ to explore all of our opportunities and pathways forward.”
The Scouts are fighting hundreds of claims, a rash of litigation fueled by the public emergence in 2012 of the organization’s own meticulous records of thousands of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations. BSA executives say the documents — known as the “ineligible volunteer files” — were part of their system for protecting kids by weeding out those who shouldn’t have been allowed to work with them.
Plaintiffs and their lawyers call it something else: evidence of a massive cover-up that endangered other children and, in the words of Lawson’s suit, “put scouting’s image and financial interests — its ‘brand’ — ahead of the safety of the scouts.”
“As BSA prepares to welcome girls and young women into its programs, we are concerned about what your position means for the safety and well-being of these future recruits,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and eight other representatives wrote in a letter dated Nov. 20. They requested information on safety procedures and reporting mechanisms, and additional precautions the organization may be putting in place as it tries to attract girls into the ranks.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-boy-scouts-troubles-20181224-story.html
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