Insurer Appeals Order to Pay Sex Abuse Claims for Connecticut Diocese

An insurance company has appealed an order by a federal judge in Connecticut to reimburse the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford $945,000 for payments church officials made to settle sexual misconduct cases involving priests.

Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven ruled in July that Chicago-based Interstate Fire & Casualty breached a contract when it refused to reimburse the archdiocese for more than $1 million in payments made in four abuse cases involving minors.

The company had reimbursed the archdiocese for previous settlements in priest abuse cases, but joined other insurers across the country that have balked at paying legal settlements in such cases.

Interstate Fire & Casualty appealed Arterton’s ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York last week.