Please be as thorough as possible and make sure to press the 'Submit' button at the bottom when finished. If you do not, your answers will not be recorded.
Elect Which Claims Process to Use
Note that under either Option #1 or Option #2, a Claimant may not receive payment of the full value that the Trustee assigns to his/her Abuse Claim. This is because the settlement documents require that all Claimants receive the same percentage recovery on their Allowed Abuse Claims. In turn, the percentage of each Allowed Abuse Claim that will be paid depends on the amount of available funds in the Trust and the aggregate amount of all Allowed Abuse Claims.
Reviewing information provided on Proof of Claim form
Information we already have.
If you would like to tell us more about what you wrote on the Proof of Claim form, please explain here. This question is optional, you may skip it if you would like.
If you’d like to upload a handwritten or typed narrative to respond to this question, please email it to BSOA@hilliard-law.com.
Note that the response to this question must be in the Claimant’s own words.
We Are Asking for More Detailed Information
The Proof of Claim form that you filed with Omni in 2020 contained some basic information about your Claim. This Questionnaire asks for more detailed information about your Claim so we can evaluate your Claim against all the rules of the settlement. Please complete this Questionnaire in full to enable us to process your Claim.
Basic Identification Information.
Basic Identification Information. This section asks for information about the Claimant (the person who experienced the sexual abuse). If the Claimant is represented by a lawyer, we will generally communicate with the Claimant through their lawyer – however, if we are unable to reach the lawyer, we will contact the Claimant directly. We will communicate directly with Claimants who are not represented by lawyers.
Address
Address during period of sexual abuse as best you can remember
Background About Your Life
Criminal History Involving Financial Fraud
Has Claimant Sued a Chartered Organization?
Resolution of Claim in previous litigation
For Person Submitting on Behalf of Claimant.
The Claimant is the person who experienced childhood sexual abuse. If the Claimant is deceased, or is a minor, or is legally incapacitated, or gave to another the legal power to speak for the Claimant, then the Claimant or the Claimant’s estate will have some type of Representative. That Representative should complete this section. In this section, “You” refers to the Representative. If a lawyer represents the Claimant’s interests in this Claim, we will generally communicate with the lawyer. We are collecting the Representative’s contact information in case we are unable to get in touch with the lawyer.
Who is the Representative submitting on behalf of the Claimant?
Your Connection to Scouting.
Please explain your connection to Scouting. In what parts of Scouting did you participate (Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Sea Scouts, Exploring)? For each part of Scouting you participated in, please fill out the table below to tell us approximately which years you participated in Scouting, what Troop number(s) you were in, what were the name(s) of your Local Council(s), and was your Troop associated with another Sponsor or Charter organization (like a school or church)?
Cub Scouts
Boy Scouts (Scouts BSA)
Venturing
Sea Scouts
Exploring
Other Organization
Describe the Abuse.
Please describe the abuse in detail in your own words. Please tell us everything you can remember, from the beginning to the middle to the end. Please don't leave anything out. We encourage you to answer this question, but it is optional. We will ask some very detailed follow-up questions later in this Questionnaire to make sure that we have all the information we need to assess your Claim according to the settlement rules. Note that the response to this question must be in the Claimant's own words.
Type of Abuse We need to ask exactly what type of abuse happened to you. Here is a list of the types of abuse listed in the settlement rules. Please check the boxes for the types that happened to you.
Identity of the abusers
Your Relationship to this Abuser. What relationships, if any, did you have with this Abuser outside of Scouting?
Abuser 2
Abuser 3
Overall impact of the abuse
We encourage you to answer this question, but it is optional. We will ask some very detailed follow-up questions later in this Questionnaire to make sure that we have all the information we need to assess your Claim according to the settlement rules. Note that the response to this question must be in the Claimant’s own words.
Impact of the Abuse: Mental Health Impact
Please tell us about any impact the abuse had on your mental health. This includes substance abuse, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, embarrassment, fear, flashbacks, nightmares, sleep issues, sleep disturbances, exaggerated startle response, boundary issues, self-destructive behaviors, guilt, grief, homophobia, hostility, humiliation, anger, isolation, hollowness, regret, shame, isolation, sexual addiction, sexual problems, sexual identity confusion, low self-esteem or self-image, bitterness, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and hospitalization or receipt of treatment for any of the items in this list.
Impact of the Abuse: Physical Health Impact
Please tell us about any impact the abuse had on your physical health. This includes physical manifestations of emotional distress, gastrointestinal issues, headaches, high blood pressure, physical manifestations of anxiety, erectile dysfunction, heart palpitations, sexually transmitted diseases, physical damage caused by acts of abuse, reproductive damage, self-cutting, other self-injurious behavior, and hospitalization or receipt of treatment of any of items in this list.
Impact of the Abuse: Interpersonal Relationships
Please tell us about any impact the abuse had on your interpersonal relationships. This includes problems with authority figures, hypervigilance, sexual problems, marital difficulties, problems with intimacy, lack of trust, isolation, betrayal, impaired relations, secrecy, social discreditation and isolation, damage to family relationships, and fear of children or parenting.
Impact of the Abuse: Vocational Capacity.
Please tell us about any impact the abuse had on your vocational capacity. This includes under- and unemployment, difficulty with authority figures, difficulty changing and maintaining employment, feelings of unworthiness, or guilt related to financial success.
Impact of the Abuse: Academic Capacity
Please tell us about any impact the abuse had on your academic capacity. This includes school behavior problems.
Other Claim Information
Exigent Health Circumstances. The rules of the settlement consider exigent health circumstances when determining the order in which Claims are evaluated. You may qualify for an Exigent Health Claim if you can provide a declaration under penalty of perjury from a physician who has examined you within 120 days of the declaration in which that physician states that there is substantial medical doubt that you will survive beyond six months from the date of the declaration.
Claim Determination Deferral. The rules of the settlement allow you to defer determination of your Allowed Claim Amount if your Claim may be substantially reduced by the statute of limitations scaling factor. This means that under certain states’ laws, people cannot sue about sex abuse events that happened long ago because those states’ “statute of limitations” rules prevent the lawsuit. Some of those states may be in the process of changing their rules. You can decide whether to ask us to put your Claim “on hold” for a certain amount of time while you see what happens in those states. If you elect to defer your determination, you may defer your Claim for up to 12 months or only until April 18, 2024 (twelve months after the Effective Date of the Trust).