The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has agreed in principle to settle more than 100 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed against it last year across California, according to recent court filings in the cases.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the Utah-based LDS church, often referred to as the Mormon church, have filed joint motions in dozens of cases in recent weeks informing judges that they “reached a settlement in principle” during a private mediation session on April 10. Each of the filings assert that the “proposed settlement includes global resolution of over one hundred other claims.”
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The terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed and may never be released publicly. Unlike settlements involving government agencies, which are a matter of public record, private organizations such as the LDS church can keep settlement agreements confidential.
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Michael Carney, a Los Angeles attorney whose firm, Slater Slater Schulman, is representing the plaintiffs, declined to comment on the proposed settlement pending its finalization.
A church spokesperson also declined to comment.
Among the roughly 100 plaintiffs who sued the church in separate but related lawsuits in courts across California, five alleged they were abused in San Diego County, including three who say they were sexually assaulted by their bishops, the top spiritual leaders of local congregations in the LDS church. All of the lawsuits, some of which dealt with incidents dating back several decades, contained similar allegations that church leaders used their positions of power to groom, manipulate and abuse children. Each suit alleged sexual abuse of a minor, negligence and other related claims against the church, alleging leaders either knew or should have known about the abuse but did not act to stop it.
“The abuse of a child or any other individual is inexcusable,” a church spokesperson told the Union-Tribune in a statement earlier this year. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes this, teaches this, and dedicates tremendous resources and efforts to prevent, report and address abuse. We have deep concern for all victims of abuse.”
The statement went on to say that the church “takes these claims seriously” and was investigating each case individually. “Early investigation has revealed multiple discrepancies in many of the claims,” the statement said.
RELATED: Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen
The five San Diego-area cases were filed on behalf of three men, one woman and the estate of a woman who died last year. Two of the cases dated back to 1961, while the most recent alleged abuse occurred about a decade ago, allegedly involving the bishop of a congregation near Imperial Beach. Several of the San Diego-area plaintiffs alleged they disclosed the abuse to church leaders who protected the church’s interests rather than report it to authorities.
Carney, whose firm represents the plaintiffs, said earlier this year that the church tolerated the abuse in some cases and enabled it in others. One woman who alleged she was abused throughout her entire childhood by four people in an Escondido congregation, or “ward” in LDS terms, asserted that she disclosed the abuse on at least three occasions, but the church “handled the repeated allegations internally as a ‘matter of sin’ and not one leader reported any matter to police.”
The proposed settlement is not a complete surprise, given there were indications the two sides had attempted to resolve the cases previously. The lawsuits filed by Slater Slater Schulman were filed under a California law that temporarily removed the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse cases during a three-year window between 2020 and 2022. But court records indicated the plaintiffs were in talks with the church before that window closed and the two sides “entered into a tolling agreement that extended the time to file” until August 2024.
San Diego attorney Irwin Zalkin is not involved in the LDS church litigation but is the founding partner of The Zalkin Law Firm, a national firm focused on sexual abuse cases involving institutions such as churches and schools. Zalkin said that in a case such as this, with a global settlement involving more than 100 plaintiffs, each plaintiff will have to sign off on the agreement. Plaintiffs who don’t agree to the settlement terms could potentially receive a carve-out in the deal to proceed with their cases individually while the other plaintiffs settle, Zalkin said.
But for most plaintiffs in these types of cases, a settlement represents certainty and a quicker resolution than the alternative of taking the case to trial, which could result in a larger payout but can also take several years to unfold, especially when factoring in appeals of final judgments, Zalkin said. A settlement can also represent some measure of closure.
For defendants such as the LDS church — which one financial watchdog group estimated to be worth roughly $293 billion as of 2024 — they must weigh the cost of a settlement against the potential costs of going to trial in dozens of cases, Zalkin said.
“What will it cost to try these cases, and what’s the risk of substantial verdicts against them?” Zalkin said. “There’s a certain benefit (to the church) of avoiding that risk, especially in California, where jury verdicts tend to be significant in these types of cases.”
The settlement money will likely not be dispersed evenly among the plaintiffs, Zalkin said, adding there are a variety of ways to determine how much each plaintiff will receive and a variety of factors used to make those determinations. Typically, though, plaintiffs with stronger liability claims receive more money, he said. Some of the factors that are weighed include the nature, duration and extent of the alleged abuse. Other factors include the severity of the impact of the alleged abuse, such as whether or not it led to trouble with intimate relationships and difficulties holding down a job or diagnosed psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
As to any potential non-economic settlement terms, Zalkin said a settlement such as this could potentially include written or oral apologies from the church, but would very unlikely include any policy changes.
“I haven’t seen policy changes — it’s very rare you’re going to get an organization to make substantial policy changes through a settlement,” Zalkin said.
The recent filings in the LDS church cases indicate attorneys from both sides hope to finalize the settlement before the end of July. Until then, proceedings in most of the cases have been stayed.
