$30M settlement reached in Diocese of Winona sex abuse cases

Rachel Mergen, The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls, Wisc.The Chippewa Herald

A $30 million settlement has been reached related to sexual abuse claims filed against the Diocese of Winona.

Jeff Anderson & Associates PA in St. Paul announced Thursday the settlement with U.S. Fire Insurance Co., the diocese’s largest insurer.

The firm stated the settlement will impact more than 145 people who filed claims against the diocese for sexual abuse.

“U.S. Fire Insurance denied, delayed, and, for business reasons, chose to oppress survivors in bringing closure and making settlements,” attorney Jeff Anderson stated in the settlement announcement Thursday. “U.S Fire and the entire insurance industry is now required to reckon in a way like never before.”

The diocese itself, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018, previously agreed to a $28 million settlement for the sexual abuse cases in 2021. That settlement included parishes and schools and insurers LMI and Interstate, but not United States Fire.

Three of the sexual abuse cases resulted in jury verdicts in 2025, according to the law firm. One of the trials occurred in Winona County, while the other two happened in Olmsted County.

The Winona County case involved an person who was abused by lay volunteer Eugene Hubert in the early 1970s. The victim, who was 13 at the time, knew Hubert as “Brother Gene” at Winona’s St. Mary’s Parish and School. The verdict against St. Mary’s Parish and the diocese was for $4.5 million.

Another victim, who attended Rochester’s Lourdes High School in the 1970s, was abused by Father Joseph Cashman. That victim was 15 to 18 years old during the abuse. A verdict was made against the diocese for $7.6 million.

Another case involved Cashman abusing a Lourdes High School student in 1972 to 1974, when the student was 14 to 16 years old, and also resulted in a verdict against the diocese for $4.8 million.

United States Fire was responsible for paying the cases’ verdicts, according to the diocese’s bankruptcy plan, the law firm stated.

A lawsuit against United States Fire was expected to go to trial starting Sept. 28.

“At the same time that courageous survivors were obtaining verdicts against the Diocese, another lawsuit brought on behalf of the Diocese of Winona’s bankruptcy against U.S. Fire was moving through the courts and getting close to trial,” the release states. “That lawsuit sought to force U.S. Fire to pay over $27 million in judgments the Diocese of Winona admitted it was responsible for on behalf of nine survivors of notorious abuser, Fr. Thomas Adamson. Attorneys Tim Burns & Jesse Bair of the Burns & Bair Law Firm represented the survivors’ interests in that lawsuit.”

Lawsuits accuse Diocese of Winona of negligence in sexual abuse incidents