TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. — The Kenmore Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District may have to pay for any judgements, settlements in Child Victims Act lawsuits filed against the district.
Thirty-five lawsuits have been filed against the Ken-Ton School District due to the Child Victims Act. The district said in a press release all of the lawsuits involve a former teacher, Arthur Werner. Werner last worked in the district 30 years ago.
The district says they conducted an investigation into their past insurance policies, including an investigation by an insurance archaeologist, and were not able to identify any insurance policies that would cover any liabilities from the lawsuits.
"The district acknowledges that the misconduct alleged against Werner in these lawsuits is reprehensible — both now and back then," said Superintendent Sabatino Cimato in a released statement.
The district says they investigated the claims against the district, and say former administrators testified they did not have any knowledge of the misconduct.
Officials for the district say they reached an agreement with the attorneys representing all 35 victims to settle the lawsuits.
The district says they will obtain bond financing to fund the settlements to minimize programming for current students.
This means the school district will be on the hook for paying out $17.5 million. 2 On Your Side confirmed that dollar amount Thursday with Attorney Chris O'Brien who represents several of the men who filed lawsuits.
O'Brien told us the settlement money will be divided among the 35 survivors in various amounts.
"These are incredibly brave men. They had to face a lot of old ghosts, old demons, as they would be deposed about exactly what had happened, and they had to re-live it, and it was not an easy thing by any means," said attorney Chris O'Brien.
Dozens of former students allege Werner sexually assaulted, abused, or groped them while he was teaching at Hoover Elementary in the 1960s through the 1990s. In each of the lawsuits we reported on in 2019, the Ken-Ton School District was named as the defendant, and not Werner, who is now in his 80s.
2 On Your Side asked O'Brien about the reasons behind that decision.
"One of the first guys who I talked to, he was breaking down in my office and he said how can we do this so it never happens again? What's our best shot? And I said to him, well, if we sue the teacher, what we do is we punish one person. If we sue the school district, we protect hundreds, if not thousands, of children going forward," said attorney Chris O'Brien.
No one with the school district was available for an interview on Thursday, and a spokesperson referred us to a press release the district sent out Wednesday night.
O'Brien told us he is anticipating that sometime in August, the settlement would be paid out.