Diocese, St. Clare’s appears headed to trial

Case has been in the court system since 2019

On April 17, Holy Thursday, lawyers representing the Diocese of Albany and lawyers representing the St. Clare’s pensioners - including the AARP and the Office of the Attorney General - met in the third-floor courtroom of Schenectady Supreme Court.

With Acting Supreme Court Judge Vincent Versaci at the bench, both sides argued their cases about who was to blame for the collapse of the St. Clare’s pension plan that has affected the livelihoods of nearly 1,100 pensioners. This was just the latest meeting over a case that has drawn strong emotions from Catholics and non-Catholics alike in Schenectady County and has been winding its way through the court system since 2019.

In their bid to dismiss the lawsuit, diocesan lawyers, representing the estate of the late Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, the estate of the late Father David LeFort, Joseph Profit and Robert Perry, both of the St. Clare’s Corporation, argued that the Diocese of Albany essentially had a purely canonical role in making sure that St. Clare’s Hospital followed Catholic principles.

The defendants allege that the Diocese was deeply involved in the running of the hospital and that its mismanagement led to the collapse of the pension fund. Throughout the nearly eight hours of motions to dismiss, the courtroom was filled with legal arguments involving “dominion and control,” “piercing the corporate veil” and the “statute of limitations.”

Nearly a month later, Versaci delivered his ruling on May 14. In a 53-page verdict, he rejected every attempt by the Diocese, other defendants and its lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit.

Versaci also granted a partial summary judgment for the pensioners in the lawsuit filed in 2019 against St. Clare’s Corporation wanting to recover their pension funds. The plaintiffs in the civil suit - known as the Hartshorne Plaintiffs, named after Mary Hartshorne, who is the lead plaintiff - were seeking $73.7 million plus 9 percent interest from January 2019 to the date of judgment. Versace ruled that only the Hartshorne plaintiffs, which number 175 of the pensioners from the original 2019 lawsuit, are entitled to the partial relief - not the $73.7 million - plus the 9 percent interest.

There will be a virtual conference on May 29 with the purpose of setting a trial date.

“(On May 14) we received the court’s decision. The court concluded there were issues of fact and referred the matter to jury trial,” the Diocese said in a statement. “Later this month, the court will confer with counsel and determine when the trial will take place. We will respect the process.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the ruling brings St. Clare’s pensioners “one step closer to justice.”

“Hundreds of former St. Clare’s employees – nurses, social workers, lab technicians, and support staff – devoted their lives to caring for others,” James said in a statement. “But when the Diocese-controlled board of St. Clare’s unjustly terminated their pension plan, many of them lost their life savings and were left unable to retire. Today’s victory allows our case against St. Clare’s and the Diocese to proceed, bringing these hardworking pensioners one step closer to justice.”