San Francisco Archdiocese agrees to $395 million settlement with sex abuse survivors

The San Francisco Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million and implement a series of child protection and transparency reforms to settle hundreds of lawsuits brought by survivors who say they were sexually abused by clergy and other church employees as children.

The San Francisco Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million and implement a series of child protection and transparency reforms to settle hundreds of lawsuits brought by survivors who say they were sexually abused by clergy and other church employees as children.

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The agreement, announced Monday by plaintiffs’ attorneys and the Archdiocese, would resolve roughly 530 claims filed after California temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse lawsuits and comes nearly three years after the Archdiocese sought bankruptcy protection.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents hundreds of clergy abuse survivors, called the agreement the largest per-survivor settlement ever reached in a bankruptcy involving a Catholic diocese. He also said the settlement allows plaintiffs to continue pursuing claims against some of the Archdiocese’s insurers.