CEO: Suit won’t affect Boys & Girls Club’s future
GREENWICH — The future of the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich is not in jeopardy despite pending litigation, club officials said in a letter this week.
“The Club is strong. The Club is thriving. The Club is confident in its future, just as it is about the future of the children it serves,” CEO Bobby Walker Jr. and board Chairman George Fox wrote in a letter sent to Hearst Connecticut Media.
Six men who say they were sexually abused as children at the then-Greenwich Boys’ Club in the ’70s and ’80s are suing the club over the alleged abuse. They are seeking a lawsuit settlement of $15.5 million, their attorneys said.
A prejudgment remedy application filed by the plaintiffs in Stamford Superior Court last month indicated the club might be forced to close if a settlement is reached.
“While it remains our policy not to comment on pending legal matters, we do want to set the public record straight,” the club officials said in their letter. “The Club has more than adequate insurance coverage through the Travelers Insurance Company to deal with any result, however unlikely, of all pending litigation.”
The plaintiffs’ attorneys, in their application said that during settlement discussions, the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich revealed that its insurance policies would not fully cover it against the claims made in the lawsuit. If the club’s insurance will not cover the requested settlement, the plaintiffs are asking the organization to relinquish its property, the prejudgment remedy application shows.
The club leaders in their letter state that a Jan. 3 Greenwich Time article about the application, which included the plaintiffs’ assertion about insurance coverage, “conveyed wildly inaccurate conclusions” about the club’s stability. Club leaders at the time declined to comment for the article about the topic.
An initial hearing on the application is scheduled for Jan. 21, though the court will not be taking evidence at that time, according to a judge’s order.
A total of 12 men have come forward to say they were abused by Andrew Atkinson, an underage counselor at the club, from 1976 to 1984, Greenwich lawyer Philip Russell said, but only six meet the state’s statute of limitations to file a civil claim. The men say they were repeatedly and severely sexually abused by Atkinson and that at least three adult employees — including the club director at the time — ignored it.
Atkinson has denied he ever abused children. In court filings, the club has denied any wrongdoing.
“The Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich considers the safety of our children to be our highest priority,” Walker and Fox wrote in their letter. “Since its founding in 1910 in a small storefront on what is now East Putnam Road, the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich has faithfully served the youth in our community who need a champion in their corner.”
The club serves 350 children each day and its after-school program served 1,540 children in 2019, the club officials said.