[Ansteorra] Lawsuit, Children, Liability

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Tue Feb 7 22:44:39 PST 2012


The original suit was for 60 million dollars, 10 million per child.   
Quite a lot more than $25,000 each.

Stefan

On Feb 7, 2012, at 10:43 PM, L T wrote:

> If it were really about money...they would have gone for punitive  
> damages...
> 25,000 each sounds more like legal and counseling costs to me...
>
>
> L
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Paul DeLisle <ferretpd at gmail.com>
> To: 'Rose' <rose_welch at yahoo.com>; "'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA,  
> Inc.'" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 6:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Lawsuit, Children, Liability
>
> I disagree, Rose. This *IS* about money.
> If it *weren't* about money, the settlement would be a Court-approved
> modification to the SCA By-Laws.
> I'm sorry to disillusion you, hun...but sadly...it *IS* about money  
> (even
> more sadly....mostly for the Lawyers.)
>
> Alden
> (Disillusioned himself, more than a decade-and-a-half ago.)
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org [mailto:ansteorra-
>> bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Rose
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:36 PM
>> To: Ansteorra
>> Subject: [Ansteorra] Lawsuit, Children, Liability
>>
>> Let's be clear about this:
>>
>> This case does not revolve around an isolated incident.
>>
>> This case does not revolve around a single perpetrator.
>>
>> This case was not brought by a single plaintiff.
>>
>> This case was brought by a group of plaintiffs, with their parents,  
>> who
>> discovered that the SCA has a long history of abusers in leadership  
>> roles.
>> We're not alone; this problem is familiar to every organization  
>> that deals
> with
>> a vulnerable populace.
>>
>> Unlike those organizations, we chose to do nothing. We didn't run
>> background checks, we didn't require a two-deep rule, we rarely  
>> revoked
>> memberships until a conviction was secure. We didn't even bother to  
>> send
>> out Society announcements when these revocations occurred, a measure
>> that may have served to keep us on our toes and would have cost us
>> NOTHING. Long after the Boy Scouts and similar organization  
>> developed best
>> practices to safeguard their children, we did nothing.
>>
>> Even after the Schragger case, where twelve children came forward to
> report
>> abuse, we made NO changes. We didn't update our policies until  
>> AFTER we
>> were sued by six of children that Lord Ben the Steward, AKA the  
>> 'Innocent
>> Oak', had molested. That was the point of the suit.
>>
>> Do you still think that this lawsuit is about money?
>>
>> This lawsuit was about forcing the SCA to adopt standard best  
>> practices,
>> which we have done. Now that we have done so, we no longer carry the
>> same amount of liability that we did before 2007. (And our liability
> insurance
>> already went up. Some of you folks are really behind the times.)
>>
>> The Innocent Oak. That is what the local populace called him and the
> symbol
>> that they crafted onto items that they sold to raise funds for his
> defense.
>> Even after his conviction, a reported thirty Scadians showed up to  
>> his
> 'Going
>> To Prison' party to wish him farewell. Since then, there have been  
>> twenty-
>> nine revocation and denial of membership decisions rendered by the  
>> Board
>> of Directors for conviction of predatory crimes. Twenty-four of  
>> these have
>> been with regard to abuse of minors.
>>
>> Again, let me ask. Are you still thinking about the money?
>>
>> I'm not. I'm thinking about a culture of abuse that we allowed to  
>> fester
> in our
>> Society, that contributed to the molestation of at least a dozen  
>> children.
>> Eighteen percent doesn't seem like a very large payment to rid  
>> ourselves
> of
>> that particular ailment, and it is worth noting that it would have  
>> been
>> significantly cheaper - in gold and in blood - had we simply seen  
>> to the
> issue
>> when the first symptoms erupted.
>>
>> Blaming the children for a lawsuit that centered around the non- 
>> actions of
>> adults is stupid. Working to punish children in the future for an  
>> issue
> that was
>> corrected in the past is even more stupid.
>>
>> And that's my tuppence.
>>
>>
>>
>> Lady Rose the Obnoxious
>>




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