The Hare Krishna movement has filed a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court that its leaders hope will allow it to compensate more than 500 people who have made claims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse.
David Liberman, an attorney for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, said 540 people worldwide have made claims against the organization. About 90 claimants, he said, are involved in a $400 million child abuse lawsuit against the Krishna movement that prompted the organization to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002.
The lawsuit alleged that students attending Krishna boarding schools were abused in the 1970s and 1980s.
Eleven temples and organizations filed the reorganization plan in a Texas court last week. The plan calls for providing compensation of as much as $15 million to creditors of the society, the North American expression of the ancient Vaishnava tradition, a monotheistic faith within Hindu culture. Most creditors are former students of the movement.
Liberman said that figure could be reached if the organization successfully raises money from worldwide contributions and receives potential insurance proceeds.