Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog

Earlier today, Chicago lawyers Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed a lawsuit in Winnebago County, Illinois against the Boy Scouts of America alleging that Charles “Chuck” Bickerstaff, a long-time paid senior district executive with the Rockford-based Blackhawk Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, sexually abused a Boy Scout over a ten-month period in 2006.

Bickerstaff, 56, is now in jail in Dixon, Illinois on $4 million bond awaiting trial on multiple counts of child molestation involving at least two victims. One of the victims was known to be younger than 13 years old when the abuse occurred.

Police have recovered six diaries of 120 pages in length from Bickerstaff’s home which describe in detail his sexual relationships with underage boys dating back to at least 1989.

The victim was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for most of his childhood who “looked (to Bickerstaff) as an authority figure,” the lawsuit says. Using the power and trust of his position, the suit says, Bickerstaff’ routinely spent time alone with (the boy) outside of Scout events. The BSA staffer “enticed, induced, directed, coerced, and forced” the child “to engage in deviant sexual acts with him.” The crimes took place on a Scout trip to Lansing, Michigan, at Bickerstaff’s home, and “other locations.”

According to the suit, the BSA “knew or should have known” that Bickerstaff was dangerous, failed to adequately investigate allegations of misconduct involving Bickerstaff and failed to adequately supervise Bickerstaff’s activities. The suit also alleges that the BSA knew for decades that sexual predators “had infiltrated scouting,” but its leadership “failed to inform Scouts’ parents of that fact.”

Earlier today, Chicago lawyers Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed a lawsuit in Winnebago County, Illinois against the Boy Scouts of America alleging that Charles “Chuck” Bickerstaff, a long-time paid senior district executive with the Rockford-based Blackhawk Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, sexually abused a Boy Scout over a ten-month period in 2006.

Bickerstaff, 56, is now in jail in Dixon, Illinois on $4 million bond awaiting trial on multiple counts of child molestation involving at least two victims. One of the victims was known to be younger than 13 years old when the abuse occurred.

Police have recovered six diaries of 120 pages in length from Bickerstaff’s home which describe in detail his sexual relationships with underage boys dating back to at least 1989.

The victim was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for most of his childhood who “looked (to Bickerstaff) as an authority figure,” the lawsuit says. Using the power and trust of his position, the suit says, Bickerstaff’ routinely spent time alone with (the boy) outside of Scout events. The BSA staffer “enticed, induced, directed, coerced, and forced” the child “to engage in deviant sexual acts with him.” The crimes took place on a Scout trip to Lansing, Michigan, at Bickerstaff’s home, and “other locations.”

According to the suit, the BSA “knew or should have known” that Bickerstaff was dangerous, failed to adequately investigate allegations of misconduct involving Bickerstaff and failed to adequately supervise Bickerstaff’s activities. The suit also alleges that the BSA knew for decades that sexual predators “had infiltrated scouting,” but its leadership “failed to inform Scouts’ parents of that fact.”

Today Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed suit in the Circuit Court of Winnebago County against Charles Bickerstaff, The Boy Scouts of America and the Blackhawk Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Charles Bickerstaff is a 57 man that served as an executive for the Boy Scouts of America for 33 years before he retired. He served at Boy Scout offices in Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri; Heidelberg, Germany; and Rockford, Illinois over the course of his career.

Bickerstaff is now in the Lee County jail on multiple charges for criminal sexual assault on two minors aged 13 and 16. His bond is set at $4 million. The charges against Bickerstaff date back to 1998. Local police have located diaries in Bickerstaff's possession that discuss his compulsions to sexually abuse children and identify many other victims.

Bickerstaff met our client through his work with the Boy Scouts of America and used his position as an executive with the Blackhawk Area Council to gain the trust of the boy's family.

Our suit alleges that the Boy Scouts of America failed to adequately check Bickerstaff's background and failed to adequately follow up on allegations of misconduct by Bickerstaff while he was working in the Boy Scout organization.

Our office has access to thousands of files which the Boy Scouts of America created over many years and which document the fact that pedophiles are attracted to scouting. In fact, in 2005 the Director of the Boy Scouts of America Youth Protection Task Force was convicted for trafficking in child pornography.

The purpose of the suit we filed today is to bring this issue into the light of day. We know that pedophiles are not stopped until someone stops them. We are proud to be working with a young man with the courage to try to make sure this stops with him.

How can this be avoided in the future? We suggest the following as a start:

1.) Rather than hiding this problem make it public. Make sure parents understand the extent and the history of the problem so they can help protect their own children.

2.) Require thorough background checks on all people associated with scouting including volunteers and employees.

3.) Aggressively follow up on complaints or accusations of misconduct by anyone associated with scouting.

4.) Enforce the rule that no scouts should be alone with unrelated adults at any time. There should be zero tolerance for violations of this rule. Create an environment where pedophiles cannot operate. If pedophiles are denied access to scouts they will not be attracted to scouting.

5.) Use the thousands of files in the possession of the Boy Scouts of America which document the deviant behavior of people thrown out of scouting and develop a profile of the typical pedophile attracted to scouting. Use this information to educate leaders and parents so no more kids are victimized.

6.) Create an environment where abused children are not afraid to tell the truth. These children need help from professionals. They should not be made to feel shame but should be thanked for their courage in coming forward.

Today Chicago law firm Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts, and Dixon, Illinois resident Charles Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff, also called “Chuck,” was a nearly thirty-year paid employee of the Boy Scouts, spending the last eleven years as a Senior District Executive of the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, based in Rockford, Illinois, and was recently assigned to Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties.

Bickerstaff is alleged to have repeatedly sexually abused a 16 year-old Boy Scout, named as “John Doe” in the lawsuit. Bickerstaff, 56, is now in jail in Dixon, Illinois on $4 million bond awaiting trial on multiple counts of child molestation involving at least two victims.

Police have recovered six diaries of 120 pages in length from Bickerstaff's home which describe in detail his sexual relationships with underage boys dating back to at least 1989.

The victim was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for most of his childhood who "looked (to Bickerstaff) as an authority figure," the lawsuit says. Using the power and trust of his position, the suit says, Bickerstaff routinely spent time alone with the boy outside of Scout events. Bickerstaff "enticed, induced, directed, coerced, and forced" the child "to engage in deviant sexual acts with him." The crimes took place on a Scout trip to Lansing, Michigan, at Bickerstaff's home, and "other locations."

According to the suit, the Boy Scouts "knew or should have known" that Bickerstaff was dangerous, failed to adequately investigate allegations of misconduct involving Bickerstaff and failed to adequately supervise Bickerstaff's activities. The suit also alleges that the Boy Scouts knew for decades that sexual predators "had infiltrated Scouting," but its leadership "failed to inform Scouts' parents of that fact."

My firm represents the first victim to come forward and report this pedophile to police. Hopefully this lawsuit will allow other victims to come forward and report this type of abuse to the authorities, and allow us to use the tools available through the legal system to investigate how the Boy Scouts permitted a pedophile to become a paid executive within its organization.

A copy of the filed complaint can be referenced below:

Continue reading "Suit Exposes Sexual Abuse by Illinois Boy Scout Executive" »

Today Chicago law firm Hurley McKenna & Mertz, filed suit against Charles Bickerstaff and the Boy Scouts of America and the Black Hawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for civil damages arising out of the sexual abuse of their minor client while Bickerstaff was the Senior District Executive for the Black hawk Area Council in Rockford, Illinois. A copy of the filed complaint can be referenced below:

Continue reading "Suit filed against Boy Scouts of America and Charles Bickerstaff" »

In a victory for victims of negligent medical care in Illinois, Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Diane Larsen, ruled that caps on damages for medical malpractice are not constitutional in Illinois. The case will now proceed to the Illinois Supreme Court where the justices will address the constitutionality of the caps. On two prior occasions The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled caps to be unconstitutional. A consistent ruling by the Supreme Court will mean that this law limiting the damages of the most severely injured victims will be rejected like those before it.

In August of 2005, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, under pressure from medical malpractice insurance companies and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, signed a law the capped non-economic damages solely in medical malpractice cases at the arbitrary amounts of $500,000 in cases against physicians, and $1,000,000 in cases against hospitals. This law was extremely unfair, in that it singled out only the victims of medical negligence, and not any other class of litigants such as corporations or individuals suing for business damages. The cap applied to areas of damage in medical malpractice cases that are all too common in the most severe cases--wrongful death, pain, suffering, disability and disfigurement.

For example, in one of my cases, a hospital nurse erroneously listed a toxic antibiotic, gentamycin, on a transfer form to a nursing home. As a result, the nursing home unwittingly gave my client this toxic drug for one week, destroying my client's kidney functions. She now must receive dialysis for the rest of her life. She has a permanent dialysis port sticking out of her chest. At trial, the jury found the hospital guilty of negligence and awarded my client $3,200,000 in damages for the pain, suffering, disability and disfigurement. If the case had gone to trial under the legislation signed by the Illinois governor, my client's non-economic damages would have been reduced to $1,000,000. Fortunately, the new law did not apply to medical malpractice that was discovered before the law was signed.

Today, Judge Joan Larsen of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, ruled that the caps on medical malpractice damages violate the Illinois Constitution. See her well-reasoned decision here. Following Illinois Supreme Court precedent holding prior attempts at "tort reform" in Illinois to be unconstitutional, Judge Larsen held that any cap on medical malpractice damages improperly invades the constitutional right of a plaintiff to a trial by jury, improperly invades the province of the jury to award damages based on the evidence, and unduly encroaches upon the right of the judiciary to decide whether a jury's damage award is excessive.

I applaud Judge Larsen's decision. The ruling protects the right of a victim of malpractice to a trial by jury--with the jury to decide the amount of any award of compensation based on the evidence. Judge Larsen's decision represents the principle that the Illinois constitution does not allow those who have been most seriously injured as a result of medical malpractice to have their rights taken away in order to increase the profits of insurance companies.

The record profits of hospitals and insurance companies show that they are taking advantage of Illinois doctors and patients. The real solution to the problem of rising medical malpractice premiums is meaningful insurance reform and regulation of the insurance companies.

My firm will continue to work to protect the rights of victims of medical negligence to full and fair compensation.

“The Bush administration, responding to a wave of recent food and product recalls, is set to announce today its most aggressive regulatory proposals yet on policing imports. But much of their success depends on congressional action, and some lawmakers and outside experts already contend they are inadequate. The initiative aims to steer the nation toward a prevention-based regulatory system that targets the riskiest products. It calls for giving more authority to agencies that regulate food and consumer goods, improving data-gathering on imports, and increasing cooperation between agencies and with U.S. trading partners. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, would be granted power to require manufacturers and importers of ‘high risk’ products to take steps to prevent contamination and other problems. The FDA could require producers and importers of such goods to certify they comply with FDA standards. The FDA could bar imports if it is given no access or only limited access to production records. The agency would also be able to mandate recalls on tainted products, something it can't do now.”

Jane Zhang, John D McKinnon, and Christopher Conkey, Wall Street Journal, 11-6-07

As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I wish I could say that things like this never happened:

“The family of a woman who died earlier this year after collapsing on an emergency room's floor as she waited for treatment has filed a $45 million lawsuit against the county. The lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court claims negligence, medical malpractice and wrongful death on the part of Los Angeles County, county police and some of the staff at the county's Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died May 9 of a perforated bowel after writhing in pain on the floor for 45 minutes without receiving care. She was discharged and sat on a bench outside the facility, yelling in pain.”

Associated Press, 11-6-07

A lawsuit in Arkansas against the Union Pacific Railroad claims company officials pressured families of victims injured or killed by trains to quickly settle for amounts lower than what they may have received with a lawyer's help.

An Associated Press story explains:

The suit, now being argued before a judge in Lafayette County, Arkansas, says officials came to families in emergency rooms or while they still grieved. Arkansas residents James Freeman, Robert Udell and Victor Vickers sued the company, asking for class-action status to involve anyone injured or lost a family member in crashes at crossings, on a rail or near one from 1992 to February 15, 2005.

Up to 300 families may have been pressed by Union Pacific to settle without the benefit of legal representation.

The tactics used by the Union Pacific, as alleged in the suit, is an example of the type of unfair bargaining that companies and insurers may use to force vulnerable families, suffering from the uncertainty caused by a tragedy, to agree to disadvantageous settlements. Companies and their insurers are never trying to look out for the best interests of the victims of negligence. Always speak to a knowledgable trial lawyer before discussing a personal injury, medical malpractice or wrongful death case with a defendant company's representatives or their insurers.