John Doe v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 2007 WI 95

The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously reversed the dismissals of these cases on one of the two grounds raised on appeal. Justice Roggensack's majority opinion summarized,

¶2 We conclude that the claims asserted against the Archdiocese for negligent supervision are barred by the statute of limitations because according to controlling precedent such claims are derivative and accrued as a matter of law by the time of the last incident of sexual assault. However, we also conclude that the claims of fraud for intentional misrepresentation are independent claims based on the Archdiocese's alleged knowledge of the priests' prior sexual molestation of children and the Archdiocese's intent to deceive children and their families. We further conclude that the date of the accrual of the fraud claims is "when the plaintiffs discovered or, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have discovered" that the Archdiocese's alleged fraud was a cause of their injuries. [citation omitted]

The court remanded to the circuit court to determine if the facts supported the fraud allegation.

Chief Justice Abrahamson concurred, joined by Justice Bradley, but would also have reversed on the claim of negligent supervision.

Update: At NewWatch, Marie Rohde reported comments by James Smith, local counsel for plaintiffs.

While the decision involves four victims, now all adults, Smith said he believes the decision could open the door to many other cases in the state.

Smith said he was involved in negotiations with the archdiocese for a group of victims three or four years ago that could have resolved the cases "for far less than what it will result in now."

He said the negotiations fell through because the archdiocese was "disingenuous" in its negotiations.

"The attorney fees for the archdiocese are astronomical," Smith said.

The report also quotes briefly from Archbishop Dolan's July 11, 2007, E-mail to Diocesan Leaders, which gives a heads-up on the court decision but otherwise says nothing new. The report goes on,

He [Archbishop Dolan] said the church was preparing to go back to court but declined to say whether it would attempt to negotiate and out-of-court-settlement or comment on the fiscal impact of the ongoing litigation.

My guess remains bankruptcy.

Update 2: The July 12, 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has its full story by Marie Rohde and Tom Heinen Abuse victims can sue for fraud and an editorial Justice may be at hand.