A Marianist retreat house on the Jersey Shore will pay out $3 million to a woman who said she was abused at the center in the 1970s.
Ken Fulginiti, who represented the plaintiff identified as Jane Doe in the suit, told EWTN News on July 22 that a jury in Cape May County returned the seven-figure verdict for the “emotional trauma of abuse” endured by his client.
“There will be another $750,000 in prejudgment interest that we’ve sent in a motion for,” he said.
Fulginiti’s client said the abuse occurred in 1974; she filed suit against the retreat center in January 2021.
The retreat center attempted to convince the jury that it was not required to pay out for the abuse. “There were arguing that they were not liable to the extent that it happened; it was two employees of theirs that [they claimed they] didn’t know were like that,” Fulginiti said.
Fulginiti said the retreat center is facing several other lawsuits from alleged abuse victims.
The ruling in his client’s case, Fulginiti said, could impact the other lawsuits to some extent. The multiple lawsuits were consolidated for purposes of discovery, he said, but the trials themselves will be considered on an individual basis.
“If you are a participant in a hearing, and rulings are made against you, you’re bound to them,” he said. The plaintiffs in the other cases would not be bound in any way to the verdict in his client’s case, he said, but the retreat center would be.
The lawyer said it was “very challenging for any survivor of abuse to go through this process.”
“I’m grateful for the jury to have listened to all the evidence and provided their verdict in favor of Jane Doe,” he said.
In a statement to EWTN News, the Marianist Province of the United States said it “respects the judicial process and acknowledges the juryʼs careful consideration, which did not sustain a finding of negligence against the Province.”
“The Province unequivocally condemns sexual abuse and has comprehensive safeguarding policies in place designed to protect children and vulnerable adults across our ministries,” the statement said.
“We remain vigilant in our commitment to upholding those policies and continue to pray for all survivors of abuse.”
The multiple suits filed against the Marianist center allege that former priest John Sheehan and Brother Albert Koch had committed the abuse for years between 1974 and 1982.
Neither man is a defendant in the cases. Sheehan was laicized in 1997; Koch was reportedly active at the center into 2020.
The retreat center is located in the Diocese of Camden, which in February announced a massive $180 million abuse settlement to be paid out to more than 300 abuse victims.
The nine-figure payout represented a more-than-sixfold increase over an earlier proposed settlement of $87.5 million. Camden Bishop Joseph Williams at the time called the settlement a “milestone” that was “long overdue.”