Pennsylvania Manufacturers Insurance Company (PMA) filed a motion on Tuesday asking a Philadelphia judge to preclude evidence from Penn State’s settlements with Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse victims in cases that would have been barred by the statute of limitations.
PMA, which is Penn State’s liability insurer, and Penn State are battling each other in court over who is responsible the more than $92 million paid to 32 Sandusky accusers in settlements with Penn State. According to court documents, 38 individuals came forward seeking a settlement with Penn State.
According to Tuesday’s filing, 14 of the claims, including the first claim in 2011 by John Doe A, would have been barred from litigation by the statute of limitations.
‘Notwithstanding the fact that PSU had a total and complete defense to the time-barred claims — the applicable statute of limitations — it paid substantial sums to settle them and presented the claims to PMA for payment,’ PMA attorney Steven Engelmyer wrote. ‘While PSU may have had its own reasons for settling the time-barred claims, the question of whether PMA should pay for such settlements is governed by the terms of the contract.’
Engelmyer wrote that under the terms of the contract between PMA and Penn State, PMA would not be legally obligated to pay those claims because the statute of limitations gave Penn State a complete defense. He added that Penn State did not seek PMA’s consent or approval for the settlements.
PMA attempted to question university Risk Manager Gary Langsdale and former Board of Trustees Legal Subcommittee member Kenneth Frazier about the decision-making process for settling the claims, but Langsdale and Frazier were instructed not to answer on the basis of attorney-client privilege.
Kenneth Feinberg, who served as mediator in the settlements, wrote in an op-ed this week that ‘None of the cases were settled purely for financial reasons. Nor were the settlements reached because the University feared that its reputation would be tarnished or adversely impacted. Every case had a ‘settlement value,’ which took into account such additional factors as: the date of the claimed abuse; the nature of the proof of sexual abuse advanced by the claimant; the talent and skill of the lawyer representing the claimant; the venue where the case would ultimately be tried before a jury and the date of the scheduled trial; the potential costs associated with a protracted trial; and the very real risk of confronting adverse verdicts much higher than those demanded by the claimants during the mediation.’
Penn State made settlements with individuals who alleged abuse by Sandusky, a former Penn State football assistant coach and founder of The Second Mile charity for at-risk youth, dating back as far as the 1970s. Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of
An expert report for PMA in the litigation stated that many of the settlements made by Penn State were ‘high and in some cases extremely high,’ and that in some of the cases the state’s statute of limitations would have been strictly applied, giving Penn State an absolute defense in court.
Judge Gary Glazer issued an order giving Penn State until Aug. 19 to respond to PMA’s motion.
