A.L.M. v. Diocese of Allentown

68 Pa. D. & C.4th 111, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedJune 24, 2004
Docketnos. 2004-C-78, 2004-C-79, 2004-C-80, 2004-C-81, 2004-C-591, 2004-C-592
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 68 Pa. D. & C.4th 111 (A.L.M. v. Diocese of Allentown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.L.M. v. Diocese of Allentown, 68 Pa. D. & C.4th 111, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

BLACK, J.,

— These six cases all arise from claims of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated on the plaintiffs by clergy assigned to the Diocese of Allentown. Before the court are identical motions for judgment on the pleadings filed by the defendants in each of these cases.1

For the reasons stated below, the motions are granted in part and denied in part. The motions are granted as to Count I in each case, this count being based on a claim of statutory violation/negligence per se. However, the motions are denied as to all remaining counts.

BACKGROUND

Seven plaintiffs have filed six lawsuits against the defendants asserting 15 counts: (1) statutory violation/ [114]*114negligence per se; (2) common-law duty of reasonable care; (3) breach of fiduciary duty; (4) failure to provide a safe and secure environment; (5) negligent supervision; (6) persons acting in concert; (7) supplying false information/negligent misrepresentation; (8) failure to protect against foreseeable risks; (9) duty to warn of unreasonable risk of harm; (10) negligent supervision or use of improper persons as agents; (11) use of incompetent persons; (12) fraudulent concealment; (13) intentional failure to supervise; (14) intentional failure to warn; and (15) punitive damages.2

The defendants have filed answers to the complaints raising the statute of limitations as a defense under new matter. The plaintiffs have filed replies to the defendants’ new matter, and the defendants have moved for judgment on the pleadings. The defendants’ motions are now before the court for disposition.

In considering the defendants’ motions, we must accept as true the allegations in the plaintiffs’ complaints and in their replies to new matter. These allegations are summarized as follows:

The plaintiffs each suffered sexual abuse at the hands of clergy while they were parishioners within the Diocese of Allentown. Each incident of alleged abuse occurred when the plaintiffs were minors. The incidents occurred between 1965 and 1982. The pertinent facts are outlined in the table below:

[115]*115[[Image here]]

The plaintiffs have not brought suit against the individual priests who allegedly committed the acts of abuse, and the plaintiffs acknowledge that any suits against the individual priests would be barred by the statute of limitations. Instead, the plaintiffs initiated these actions against the Diocese of Allentown and the bishops who served the Diocese during and after the incidents of abuse.

Defendant Bishop Thomas J. Welsh served as the bishop for the Diocese of Allentown from March 21, 1983 to December 16, 1997, and defendant Bishop Edward P. Cullen has been the bishop from February 9, 1998 to the present. The bishops function as leaders of the Diocese.

[116]*116The plaintiffs contend that the defendants were aware of sexual abuse of children by clergy within the Diocese of Allentown, and had specific knowledge of the pedophilic tendencies of the offenders in the present cases. According to the plaintiffs, despite this knowledge, the Diocese continued to allow the offending priests to have unsupervised contact with children, including the plaintiffs, and then sought to conceal the problem.

A.L.M. makes the following specific allegations in her complaint:

“(33) Diocesan defendants knew of the sexual abuse of children by numerous Diocesan priests, including but not limited to Monsignor Rigney, and that such abusive behavior was a long standing [sic] problem with the Diocese, having received actual notice of such abuse as more fully described herein....
“(43) On discovery of an offending cleric’s misconduct, Diocesan defendants systematically concealed said knowledge, failed to report the misconduct to authorities and prevailed upon others not to report said misconduct to law enforcement officials, despite the fact that the Diocese had a legal obligation to report knowledge of cases of molestation to proper authorities. ...
“(58) For decades and continuing through the present, Diocesan defendants, including the predator priests, have engaged in a covert policy and practice to conceal the problem of sexual abuse of children by parish clergy....
“(62) Information as to the known criminal conduct of Diocese priests was kept secret and confidential in secret archives within the exclusive control of Bishops Cullen, Welsh and/or McShea, thereby preventing the plaintiff from having any knowledge that the Diocesan [117]*117defendants had prior notice of the abusive propensities of many Diocesan priests, including the predator priests.
“(69) Prior to the aforesaid disclosures, the plaintiffs [sic] did not know, nor did she have reason to know, that she had a cause of action against the Diocesan defendants for causing tortious injury to her due to Diocesan defendants’ concealment of their knowledge of Monsignor Rigney’s actions toward other minor parishioners and their vehement public denials of any truth to the allegations contained in related matters that the Diocese had a plan and/or policy to ignore complaints made against its abusive priests, including the predator priests, and to conceal such criminal conduct....
“(71) The injuries that plaintiff sustained as a result of the actions of Diocesan defendants could not have been discovered by her earlier due to Diocesan defendants’ fraudulent concealment of their active involvement in protecting priests known to them to be child molesters.”

Similar allegations are made in the other cases except that the name of the alleged “predator priest” is different in each case.

In 2002, representatives of the Catholic Church disclosed prior incidents of sexual misconduct against minors. These disclosures included statements made by Bishop Wilton B. Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on June 13, 2002, and by the Diocese of Allentown on April 12,2002 and May 22, 2002. According to the plaintiffs, prior to these disclosures, the problem of ongoing sexual abuse within the Diocese of Allentown was concealed by the defen[118]*118dants. The plaintiffs also contend they have suffered a new harm from the 2002 disclosures.

As a result of the foregoing, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants are legally responsible for the abuse they suffered. The plaintiffs assert that they were unable to discover that the defendants were a cause of the abuse before the church’s disclosures in 2002.

DISCUSSION

A motion for judgment on the pleadings is governed by Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1034, which provides:

“(a) After the relevant pleadings are closed, but within such time as not to unreasonably delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings.
“(b) The court shall enter such judgment or order as shall be proper on the pleadings.”

The case law is clear that before a court may grant a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the moving party must meet a high burden.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
68 Pa. D. & C.4th 111, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alm-v-diocese-of-allentown-pactcompllehigh-2004.