Plaintiffs of Catholic Sex-Abuse Lawsuits Seek Class Action Status
Several plaintiffs (with allegations of sexually abuse at Catholic orphanages and schools) have refiled claims in the past week seeking class action status for their lawsuits.
The filings came after a Jefferson Circuit judge rejected a similar appeal for class-action status last month in a lawsuit filed against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville and its Catholic Charities agency.
“The plaintiffs have claims of varying degrees against several different alleged perpetrators that span from the 1930s to the 1970s,” Clayton wrote in her Sept. 28 ruling. “There is a wide variance in the degree of injury alleged.”
Combined with a handful of cases that had already been filed individually, 51 plaintiffs now have separate pending lawsuits. Elizabeth Mendel, attorney for the Sisters of Charity, a Nelson County-based order of nuns, said it makes sense to handle the cases separately.
It would allow an unknown number of other victims to come forward after a settlement — a format similar to one used in an agreement settling lawsuits by victims against the Diocese of Covington in Kentucky.
The plaintiffs in the current lawsuits allege they were molested by a priest, several nuns and two lay people at Catholic orphanages and schools.
About 35 of the plaintiffs accuse the late Rev. Herman Lammers of abuse. Lammers was director of Catholic Charities and an orphanage chaplain. Other lawsuits allege in graphic terms that nuns and volunteers committed acts of abuse that sometimes involved religious objects.
Filed under Class Action
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