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Paul Slager & Jennifer Goldstein Win Personal Injury Hall of Fame Award for Largest Known Compensatory Damages Verdict Against Boy Scouts of America

February 6, 2015

We are honored to announce that Paul A. Slager and Jennifer B. Goldstein have won a Personal Injury Hall of Fame award from the Connecticut Law Tribune for their Boy Scouts of America verdict, John Doe v. Fairfield County Council of Boy Scouts of America, Inc.; Connecticut Yankee Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America; The Boy Scouts of America Corporation.

Mr. Slager is the first and only three-time winner of a Personal Injury Hall of Fame award.

The total compensatory damage award in this child sexual abuse case was $7,000,010.00, including $4,000,000.00 for negligence, $3,000,000.00 for negligent infliction of emotional distress and $10.00 for pecuniary losses pursuant to the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act claim.  In addition, the jury found that The Boy Scouts of America had been reckless, which will result in the imposition of punitive damages by the trial court after a hearing at a later time.

This is the largest known compensatory damages verdict in history against Boy Scouts of America.

“It’s very important to our client both that the jury has publicly said the Boy Scouts should be held accountable for keeping this important information secret and also that the jury recognized how much his abuse has impacted his life,” said Mr. Slager.  “That said, we don’t view this as a victory, and we’re not celebrating.  When you represent people who are child victims of sexual abuse, there are no true court victories, only important steps in the survivor’s recovery.

"By bringing this case and seeing it through, the plaintiff here wanted to show other abuse survivors that they need not keep their own victimization a secret,” he added.

“We are so proud to represent this man, who had the courage to overcome his own fear to bring this claim in a public forum and to testify about the terrible experiences he had,” added Ms. Goldstein.  “One of the results of sexual abuse is the corrosive effect of shame and guilt that sex abuse survivors can carry for years, even decades.  He brought this lawsuit partly because he knew it was important to confront this part of his own past and partly because he wanted to show others that they can do this too.”

Please click here to read a full copy of the press release announcing this verdict.

The Connecticut Law Tribune's second annual Personal Injury Hall of Fame Awards were given for the top plaintiffs verdicts, settlements and arbitration awards received in 2014 and reported to the Connecticut Law Tribune.

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