Courts Reject 'Clergy Malpractice' Suits

Oct. 3 -- Lawsuits against churches and clergy members were considered taboo throughout most of American history, but began cropping up in the 1980s as more Americans felt it was legitimate to sue their church in the same way they would sue a business or a government agency.

Some of those lawsuits have alleged "clergy malpractice," arguing that clergy members should be legally held to a higher standard of conduct than ordinary citizens, in the same way as other professionals in positions of trust, like doctors and lawyers.

Courts have universally rejected claims of clergy malpractice, on grounds that making judicial rulings on standards of clergy conduct would violate the First Amendment's separation of church and state. However, some courts have accepted narrower claims accusing individual clergy members of inflicting emotional distress or breaching their fiduciary duty, charges that can be applied to ordinary citizens.

Following are some notable "clergy malpractice" lawsuits that were rejected by the courts:

California: Courts Should Not Set Clergy Standards

In what is regarded as the landmark decision on clergy malpractice, the California Supreme Court in 1988 rejected a lawsuit accusing the pastors of a Protestant church in Los Angeles of negligence for failing to prevent the 1979 suicide of a 24-year-old man who was a church member.

The lawsuit, brought by the man's parents, contended that the pastors should have referred him to a professional counselor when they learned he had suicidal tendencies.

The high court upheld the trial judge's dismissal of the suit, Nally vs. Grace Community Church of the Valley, on grounds that imposing a legal duty on pastoral counselors might violate the First Amendment because "such a duty would necessarily be intertwined with the religious philosophy of the particular denomination or ecclesiastical teachings of the religious entity."

The U.S. Supreme Court left the California high court's decision intact.