The Church of England and Kennedys Law dealt survivors of Church abuse another crushing blow . A new level of incompetence saw survivors’ data breached by Kennedys and Church teams involved in the updates and questions and answers raised about the main redress scheme. Survivor Teresa Cooper suffered the significant impact when her personal details were shared with over 194 others.
An almost identical situation happened to Irish survivors of abuse in 2020 when around 250 email addresses were breached. Their cases settled in November 2024. CASE LAW
The main redress scheme (MRS) has faced a barrage of delays lasting several years with it’s temporary Interim Support sister scheme seeing an unprecedented catalogue of complaints from its onset. There is a cross over of tasked Church employees within the church ISS and MRS currently managed by church chosen law firm Kennedys.
Survivor and author Teresa Cooper was one of the first eleven to participate in the Interim support scheme and the severity of consequences are well documented. It is described as a very toxic and unpleasant experience and ongoing.
Kennedys law were clearly sharing the main redress scheme tasks with known Church of England NST and church employees. The CofE have always placed their own employees into positions and safeguarding structures that often lead to many failures.
The Church of England lessons not learned
Questions must be raised.
Was it a Church of England or Kennedys legal employee?
Was the guilty person/s sacked or sanctioned? Or will that person/s be shuffled into the background to continue operating behind the scenes? where trouble normally follows them.
It would be reasonable to expect the guilty party to be removed or at the very least suspended after a serious data breach, and anything less would be an injustice.
Were all in that breached data list offered the same financial redress by Kennedys?
To be clear about the data list. Contrary to the media reports that list is not all survivors of abuse. A large number are Church of England employees of which some appear in Survivors SARS , church advocates who failed survivors in the Interim Support Scheme, clergy, Journos and lots of lawyers. Then there’s a smaller list of survivors of which thankfully most can’t be identified although it will be distressing for them because it’s broken that trust again. Then there is a smaller list of survivors who can be identify and will be significantly affected because they can be identified and known targets by the Church of England employees.
To have the latter sat alongside a list of those who hold a personal dislike towards the identified survivors is a very serious concern. More so that it was likely their colleagues who breached the data
Kennedys Law sent an email to all in the list with an offer of £3000.
That offer is about redress and the harm done from that breach.
Remember many in the list are church employees, clergy, lawyers and other non survivors who were offered a flat amount of £3000. Many hold a professional role within the church or legal firms and will not suffer any personal impact given their roles, but survivors will be impacted and obvious to the most uneducated let alone the educated. To compensate them on the same level as the survivors is a clear example of Kennedys law in action and they are running the main redress scheme.
They see their own mates and buddies in the church along with all those professionals as victims on the same level as the real victims … church child abuse survivors.
That is a very serious concern.
They give out what can only be described as a bonus for non survivors in that list and the survivors are just collateral damage.
Kennedys are a mirror of the Church of England. Only the church would dare reward any of its employees and give them a bonus for mistakes forced on survivors
Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the most toxic of them all?
Survivors data breaches have happened in the past with email addresses leaked and those most identifiable taking legal action. They won their cases. Settlement made Nov 2024 for survivors who’s data was breached in an email>>>>>> CASE LAW
Irish lawyers aren’t afraid to challenge the law.
It was an Irish lawyer who settled Teresa Coopers case after many UK lawyers told her the drugging was normal and she didn’t have a case.
UK lawyers like easy cases where the survivor has done all the work and hands it to them on a silver platter. Kennedys and the Church of England will take advantage of UK lawyers because they know the lawyers will take the easy route which is not often in a survivors interest. Irish lawyers will take on the hard work and help achieve good results.
Survivor of horrific Church of England abuse Teresa Cooper, author of Trust No One will share her experience of that data leak and the appalling way she has been treated.
Blog updates to follow and will include Kennedys law, NST, Church of England and other lawyers in that list. Its not hard to work out who accepted their 3k bonus and legged it and dumped on the survivors.
Greed is truly ugly
Kennedys Law update
In an email to author and Survivor of horrific Kendall House abuse, Kennedys plan to subject her and other survivors to a long and unacceptable battle if they refuse the £3000 offer.
Teresa Cooper is seriously ill and her health once again plummeted after the data breach leading to serious hospital events. Kennedys were relentless and there was no indication of care or concern for her welfare.
Outrageous acts arrogantly waved in the face of survivors and victims. How can this be justified? Poor judgement by the law firm. CofE solicitors will sit in those compensation meetings and steer. If this is how they behave in a data leak you must visualise this as an indication of whats to come. This is how the main redress scheme will be treated. Kennedys solicitors will undervalue everyones case and turn every claim into a protracted and difficult challenge.