Ballaban v. Bloomington Jewish Community, Inc.

982 N.E.2d 329, 2013 WL 177927, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 15
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 17, 2013
DocketNo. 53A01-1207-CT-315
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 982 N.E.2d 329 (Ballaban v. Bloomington Jewish Community, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ballaban v. Bloomington Jewish Community, Inc., 982 N.E.2d 329, 2013 WL 177927, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 15 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Steven A. Bailaban, pro se, appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to correct error and the court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of Bloomington Jewish Community, Inc., a/k/a Congregation Beth Shalom (“Beth Shalom”), Paul Eisenberg, Judith Rose, Sarah Wasserman, Lynne Foster Shifriss, and Roberta “Didi” Kerler (collectively, Appellees). Bailaban raises one issue, which we revise and restate as whether the court abused its discretion in denying his motion to correct error or erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees. Appellees request appellate attorney fees pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 66(E). We affirm and deny Appellees’ request for attorney fees.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Bailaban entered into an employment agreement with Beth Shalom, a religious institution organized under the laws of the State of Indiana with a congregation comprised of members of the Jewish faith, which was effective July 1, 2009, pursuant to which Bailaban would serve as rabbi for Beth Shalom for three years. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Bailaban and Beth Shalom agreed that the relationship would be guided according to the Guidelines for Rabbinical-Congregational Relationships (the “Guidelines”).

In early 2010, Bailaban received information regarding possible improper conduct by a teacher. According to e-mail messages contained in Ballaban’s appellant’s supplemental appendix, the improper conduct reported to Bailaban by a congregation member consisted of a teacher massaging the backs, chest, and stomach area of children under their clothing. Bai-laban exchanged e-mail messages with several individuals regarding the potential concern.

Beth Shalom terminated Ballaban’s employment with compensation through May [332]*33218, 2010. Beth Shalom, by its President Paul Eisenberg, provided a letter to Baila-ban indicating the reasons for the decision of the Board of Directors of Beth Shalom, including the Board’s view that Bailaban was unable or unwilling to fulfill the expectations for rabbinic behavior, that Bailaban knowingly and intentionally placed the tax exempt status of Beth Shalom at risk by accepting a donation intended for a single recipient to whom the donor was related and assuring the donor that the gift would be tax deductible, that Bailaban breached the Guidelines’ sacred duty of confidence on at least two occasions by forwarding email messages from members of the congregation and his responses to members of the Personnel Committee, and that the Board had received complaints concerning Ballaban’s conduct including angry outbursts and generally hostile behavior which in part had led Beth Shalom to face the resignation of employees who were unable to work peacefully with Bailaban.

Bailaban filed a complaint against Ap-pellees on May 28, 2011, and an amended complaint on August 24, 2011.1 On April 13, 2012, Appellees filed a motion for summary judgment together with a designation of evidence and a memorandum in support of the motion. In the memorandum, Appellees argued that the congregation expected Bailaban, as its spiritual leader, to serve as a role model by abiding by the highest moral values and exemplifying the ideals of the Jewish faith, that difficulties surfaced within a few months, that congregational leaders counseled Bailaban on issues related to financial impropriety, breaches of rabbi-congregant confidentiality, and instances of angry and intimidating interactions with Beth Shalom employees and congregants, and that when it became apparent that Bailaban was unable to fulfill Beth Shalom’s expectations for rabbinic behavior, it terminated his employment as rabbi. Ap-pellees further argued that the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment protect Beth Shalom’s right to choose who will personify its beliefs and minister to its faithful and prohibit judicial intervention in Ballaban’s claims, that both the United States Supreme Court and the Indiana courts have applied a “ministerial exception” to preclude government interference with the employment relationships between religious institutions and their ministers, that Ballaban’s contract included a section in which the parties agreed to be bound by guidelines sanctioned by a governing body within the Jewish religion, and that to resolve Ballaban’s breach of contract claim, the court would not only be required to examine Beth Shalom’s internal governance but also to interpret and apply its Guidelines. Appellees also argued that Ballaban’s claims for negligent failure to supervise, defamation, and invasion of privacy cannot be resolved without excessive entanglement in church doctrine and must be dismissed.

On April 16, 2012, Bailaban filed a response and designation of evidence in opposition to Appellees’ summary judgment motion.2 From May 7, 2012 to June 4, 2012, Bailaban filed a supplemental response, a supplemental memorandum, and several supplemental designations of evidence. The documents in the appellant’s supplemental appendix filed by Bailaban and identified as his designation of materi[333]*333als include copies of e-mail messages between Bailaban and others regarding in part possible concerns related to the alleged actions of a teacher with children and the response of Beth Shalom and its Board to the concerns. The documents identified as Ballaban’s supplemental responses include a form investigation report from the Indiana Department of Child Services (“DCS”) dated August 3, 2010 indicating that an allegation of child molesting had been made and that DCS had concluded that the abuse allegations were unsubstantiated. The supplemental responses also included an affidavit of the records custodian of the Bloomington Police Department indicating that no case reports or calls for service were found regarding any investigation of child abuse. On May 17, 2012, Appellees filed a reply in support of its summary judgment motion arguing that the ministerial exception applies to Balla-ban’s claims.

On June 5, 2012, the trial court held a hearing on Appellees’ motion for summary judgment, at which Appellees appeared by counsel and Bailaban appeared pro se, and the court heard arguments on the motion and took the matter under advisement.3 On June 19, 2012, the court entered an eight-page order granting Appellees’ motion for summary judgment. In the order, the court stated that “the crux of this case is whether or not this court can compel [Beth Shalom] to retain [Bailaban] as their rabbi, or pay damages to him if it does not.” Appellees’ Appendix at 22. The court noted that the United States Supreme Court recently found that its decisions “confirm that it is impermissible for the government to contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers” and “both Religion Clauses [of the First Amendment] bar the government from interfering with the decision of a religious group to fire one of its ministers.” Id. (citing Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and Sch. v. EEOC, — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 694, 702, 704, 181 L.Ed.2d 650 (2012)) (emphasis in original). The court further noted that the Indiana Supreme Court and this court have held that the ministerial exception applies to breach of contract cases unless purely secular issues are involved. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
982 N.E.2d 329, 2013 WL 177927, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ballaban-v-bloomington-jewish-community-inc-indctapp-2013.