Hey Gupta, How Good is Your Word?
BY: JANMASTAMI DAS
Aug 30, 2010 — WEST VIRGINIA, USA (SUN) — Re-reading any number of postings on the child abuse lawsuit settlement, we find this promise from Gupta das, attorney for the defendants:
Final Chapter 11 Plan Approval
by Gupta das
Posted May 25, 2005
Press Release: Courts Confirm Hare Krishna Chapter 11 Reorganization
Religious Society Apologizes to Victims of Child Abuse
For Immediate Release
Date: May 23, 2005
Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON Communications
Background and updates: ISKCON.com/Press
Los Angeles, CA -- The United States Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California today confirmed a Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan submitted by six Hare Krishna temples and affiliates. The Plan provides 9.5 million dollars in compensation to claimants--primarily former students who were subjected to various forms of abuse or mistreatment while in the society's religious schools--while also protecting Krishna temples and religious communities from potential closure. Today's California Plan confirmation follows closely on the heels of a parallel ISKCON Reorganization Plan which was approved last week by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Those temples and affiliates of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a monotheistic Vedic, or Hindu tradition, originally filed for Chapter 11 protection in February, 2002. That was two years after a $400 million lawsuit was filed in Texas on behalf of 92 former students, who alleged emotional, physical, and sexual abuse during the 1970s and 1980s in Krishna boarding schools.
"As leaders, it was our responsibility to assure our children's safety," said Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner and Director of Communications. "We failed them, and for that we are very sorry. It is heartbreaking that many of our children were abused. On behalf of our entire society, I apologize to these young people. I pray that someday they will be able to forgive us. And, I pray that today's agreement will help them heal and move forward in their lives," Dasa said. The parallel ISKCON Chapter 11 cases were adjudicated in two jurisdictions simultaneously. In the first of the two Plan confirmation hearings, on May 16, 2005, in the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, the Honorable L. Edward Friend II stated in court that he "wholeheartedly" endorsed the Plan: "I find it to be in the best interest of the creditors [former students] and I find the parties have actually worked together to come to a conclusion that really works and really makes sense."
By seeking Chapter 11 protection, ISKCON was able to open the settlement to hundreds of additional former students who were either unaware of, or chose not to participate in, the original lawsuit. By way of Court approved advertisements in international media, as well as a proactive email campaign, ISKCON identified an additional 450 claimants who will now receive a share of the court approved $9.5 million compensation plan. Above and beyond that amount, the compensation fund stands to increase by several million dollars if ISKCON is successful in ongoing litigation with its insurance carriers. "There were always two priorities for us in this case," said David Liberman, attorney for the Krishnas . "We wanted to provide as much money as possible for the young people that were abused, and simultaneously to protect innocent families and Krishna followers from having their temples closed had a jury awarded the original amount sought in the Texas case," Liberman said.
"If this had gone to trial, it would have exhausted ISKCON's assets through legal costs and left nothing for the tort claimants, the young people who deserve it," said Sandford L. Frey, lead bankruptcy counsel for ISKCON. "In addition, the Chapter 11 allowed ISKCON to seek additional money from other independent contributors who voluntarily donated to the fund, making this an international settlement which increased the total dollar amount of the compensation fund far beyond the modest assets of the original temples that were sued," Frey said.
Distribution of the funds will begin later this year and must be completed by 2011. The amount each individual receives will be based upon the nature of the abuse, its severity, and the time factor. The amount of compensation received by most will range from $2,500 to $50,000, which does not include the amount of insurance funds that may yet be recovered."
While such prolific verbiage has the sweet sound of future prosperity, the prosperity with which they are concerned is that of the friends and sycophant army of the maintainers and recipients of the assets of the mission that existed when the abuse took place.
We appreciate Guptaji's earlier promise that all monies promised those filing in the abuse case who were determined to have been wronged would be paid in full by 2011. The problem we have now, the same as at the time of filing, is whether to believe ISKCON authorities or whether we should "tighten up the copins" and wait for the next late night assault on our backs.
With scarcely 120 days left until the date that ISKCON legal has promised for final payment, we can only expect that the Rosenthal law firm must be working overtime to see that all these checks are cut and dispersed by that time. If they are not, the terms of the original settlement not having been met, there would clearly be any opportunity for ISKCON to be in the same legal jeopardy they were at the time of the filing.
This prospect does not daunt the current ISKCON management and their legal staff because this is simply the fulfillment of the plan in place since the time of the Robin George case. ISKCON World Review, the media outlet of the time (early 90's, wasn't it?), reported it's banner story, the Robin George settlement reversal and it's future as ISKCON's legal strategy of choice for any and all future lawsuits. No retraction of this policy having been posted prior to the initial child abuse filings in Texas, that strategy was implemented throughout ISKCON, along with a policy of "transfer and conceal" as much of ISKCON's assets as you possibly could at the time so as to reduce the apparent value of the organization.
Real estate holding companies sprang up where temples once had been, and the locks on the doors became twisted as tightly as some of those that had been left in mentoring positions in the past. The concept that no devotee should be denied prasadam or Deity darshan was abandoned in favor of a much more "pounds, shillings, pence" approach to relations with the outside world, once called "the innocent", who had now suddenly become "them, the karmis", even if they were the demigod laden offspring of disciples initiated by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This colossal blunder on the part of the current ISKCON leadership, this squandering of the greatest of ISKCON's assets, has been magnified and compounded by ISKCON's two-faced nature in dealing with those who have been maligned by members of the organization throughout the years.
The settlement figures arrived at by the court approved and ordered matrix that ISKCON legal originally proposed, not having been met in a timely fashion, must mean that the ISKCON authorities have another penetrating message for these "students".
With now only a four month window left for either the payment in full or the stiff realization that "we've been had again, by the same people!", Gupta das, as spokesman for the defendants, should give us the collective courtesy of revealing just what the ISKCON legal strategy will be for the next few months, as well as the next few years, in regard to this issue. It will not "go away!" and we will not let it. We demand an explanation!
RELATED READING:
GBC Resolutions, 1997
"[LAW] 302. 1. THAT gurukula graduates and youth who have been raised in our ISKCON family are to receive a special ISKCON Youth Membership status offering them free prasadam [food] and accommodation at any ISKCON temple for one week per year per temple (provided they are respectful and follow temple rules.) Membership certificates shall be issued by the ISKCON Youth Ministry on renewable five year terms to individuals in good standing.
2. THAT all ISKCON departments, projects, businesses, and other enterprises controlled by ISKCON members, are strongly encouraged to seek out, train and employ ISKCON gurukula graduates and other youth raised in ISKCON. Wherever feasible, such youth shall be given priority over others.
3. THAT ISKCON temple ashrams have an obligation to provide room and board to gurukula graduates and other youth raised in ISKCON while they are pursuing further education and training at colleges, universities, or from our own skilled devotees. Such youth living in ISKCON ashrams must be of good character and are expected to be respectful, follow the temple rules, and attend the morning program. Whenever possible (for example, when there is an income from parents, financial aid, etc.), they should make regular donations to the temple. ISKCON Temple Presidents shall do everything feasible to fulfill this obligation to any youth certified and approved by ISKCON Youth Ministry.
[LAW] 303. 1. THAT the GBC gives its blessings to Children of Krishna, Inc. for its project to raise, manage and disburse funds internationally for the purposes of funding projects that improve gurukula education, help integrate gurukula graduates into society, and protect the physical and emotional well-being of gurukula students and graduates. This project of caring for our gurukulis is one of the most important elements in ISKCON and it has the full support and blessings of the GBC Body.
Excerpt from p. 15, "Sentence/ Penalty Phase
i) Counseling for victims:
Judges can grant victims funds for counseling, up to an average of $2,000 per individual exceptions can be made in extreme cases (to come from the GBC established fund for this purpose . . . see "Budget" section). The central office will also help in arranging for pro bono care by qualified health care providers and will help in assisting the victims in arranging for state funded care.
j) Statute of Limitations:
There is no statute of limitations. Upon approval of this proposal and establishment of a system for receiving allegations of abuse, a six month period of active solicitation of reports will begin, but if an alleged victim comes forward later on with a credible case, then such a case can be entered into this system at any time.
f) Criminal proceedings:
In case of alleged abuse, where there is an active outside justice system (western Europe, Australia/NZ, USA, Canada, etc.) and when the statute of limitations has not expired, a complaint should also be filed with the local police.
g) Double Jeopardy:
A person can be tried only once for alleged abuse against a particular individual. In cases where there is one person accused of abusing multiple victims, the central office will do everything it can to inform all those concerned that this is their opportunity to make their accusations. Again, there can only be one trial for one individual or one particular set of circumstances or set of alleged victims. In other words, if teacher X is accused of abuse at school Y, there should only be one trial to deal with that. The central office will do all it can to notify all potential victims and combine all related claims into one case.
Exception: If new evidence arises which is so convincing and points to offenses which are so egregious, the executive director of the central child protection office and the three member of the GBC executive committee, by majority vote, can reopen a case and initiate a second hearing."
ABCnews.com, June 12, 2000
Hare Krishna Schools Sued--Federal Suit Involves 44 Plaintiffs Alleging Abuse
