One of the factors that continues to plague me about the Boy Scouts of America sexual abuse cases is that no board members or staff have been brought to trial. In my opinion, charging the corporation (which has been accomplished) does not hold accountable the real individuals who spent a lot of energy "ignoring" or filing sexual abuse incidences placing the Boy Scouts' interest above that of the boy scouts.
An article in the Baptist News helps illustrate what is the bottom line of fiduciary duty, by board members, and how this duty should be translated into action for survivors of BSA abuse. In the Baptist News article, great effort was made to help readers understand clearly what is meant by fiduciary duty as applied to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee (aka board of directors) and in particular as it relates to apparently hidden data regarding incidences of sex abuse, particularly among the varied Baptist Corporations (there are 12 including the SBC and the SBC is the sole member of the 11 which means it has ultimate control of board decisions). What's at hand at the moment is the claim by the SBC that records that document incidences appear to be unavailable which in turn makes it extremely difficult to hold the SBC and its Executive Committee members accountable. Ironic when one considers that the Convention is about faith.
One line in the Baptist News article that also caught my attention was the following about staff:
Staff of a nonprofit organization — particularly the CEO and top officials — may be held to the same standards. For example, if the president of a nonprofit was aware of allegations of sexual abuse and either ignored them or sought to bury them, that executive could be held liable for bringing harm on the nonprofit, for not being a good fiduciary.
As sobering a situation as this may be for the exec committee, consider the implications for the staff who basically are the handlers of information for all having to do with the organization. Sobering.
Please do take a look at the Baptist News article to learn about precisely how fiduciary duty can be applied.