D.T. v. Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

419 S.W.3d 143, 2013 WL 5979189, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1345
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 12, 2013
DocketNo. WD 76025
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 419 S.W.3d 143 (D.T. v. Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.T. v. Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, 419 S.W.3d 143, 2013 WL 5979189, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1345 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MARK D. PFEIFFER, Presiding Judge.

The question presented in this appeal is whether the supervisory hierarchy of a religious organization is to be treated differently under the law when it knows that sexual predator-related harm is certain or substantially certain to occur to child parishioners by a member of the clergy it supervises, but in one instance the harm happens to be perpetrated on church property, and in the other instance the harm happens to be perpetrated off of church property. Pursuant to controlling Missouri Supreme Court precedent, the answer appears to be “yes.”

D.T.1 appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri (“trial court”), dismissing his cause of action against Respondents the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and Bishop Robert W. Finn (collectively, “the Diocese”) and Father Michael Tierney (“Tierney”).2 On appeal, D.T. challenges the dismissal of three negligence-based counts and one count of intentional failure to supervise clergy against the Diocese.

Standard of Review

This case was decided on motions to dismiss, prior to answer and discovery. Thus, we take as true all facts alleged in D.T.’s petition that was before the trial court. Sullivan v. Carlisle, 851 S.W.2d 510, 512 (Mo. banc 1993). “Review of dismissal of a petition allows pleadings their broadest intendment, treats all facts alleged as true, construes all allegations favorably to plaintiff, and determines whether averments invoke principles of substantive law.” Gibson v. Brewer, 952 S.W.2d 239, 245 (Mo. banc 1997).3 We review the grant of a trial court’s motion to dismiss de novo. Lynch v. Lynch, 260 S.W.3d 834, 836 (Mo. banc 2008).

Factual and Procedural Background

Years ago, Father Tierney was placed at the St. Elizabeth’s parish in Kansas City by the Diocese to serve as clergy for the St. Elizabeth’s parish. D.T. alleges that the Diocese knew that Tierney had sexually molested other child parishioners in the past and, given his ongoing sexual proclivities, knew that it was certain or substantially certain that he would molest other children he would come into contact with. While at St. Elizabeth’s parish, he came into contact with child parishioner D.T.

[146]*146D.T. grew up in St. Elizabeth’s parish in Kansas City. He attended St. Elizabeth’s school and served mass as an altar boy at the church, often with Father Tierney. Through the course of D.T.’s time at St. Elizabeth’s, Tierney befriended D.T. and his family; Tierney would often approach D.T. at school, place a hand on D.T.’s shoulder, and ask about his family. Tier-ney began asking D.T. to help him with special projects both inside and outside the parish. One time, for example, Tierney asked D.T. to assist him with an audiovisual presentation at St. Teresa’s. Tier-ney would give D.T. extra attention and would occasionally take him out to eat.

On two occasions in the early 1970’s, when D.T. was approximately twelve years old, Father Tierney sexually molested D.T. On each occasion, the sexual molestation was not incident to any parish-related activities. Likewise, on each occasion, the sexual molestation occurred off church property: once in the basement of Tier-ney’s mother’s home and another time at a hotel.

D.T. never told anyone what had happened between himself and Father Tierney until June of 2011, when he learned that other boys had accused Tierney of molesting them. D.T. claims that he had repressed or suppressed the memories of his own abuse until that time, and he still does not have a full memory of what occurred, although he is undergoing a process to attempt to recover the memories.

In July of 2011, D.T. sued both Tierney and the Diocese. Both Tierney and the Diocese filed motions to dismiss, claiming that D.T.’s action was barred by the applicable statutes of limitations and also that his petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Because D.T. alleged suppressed or repressed memories, the trial court, citing Powel v. Chaminade College Preparatory, Inc., 197 S.W.3d 576, 584 (Mo. banc 2006), refused to dismiss most of the counts on statute-of-limitations grounds. The trial court did, however, grant the Diocese’s motion to dismiss all counts for failure to state a claim and, similarly, dismissed all but two counts against Tierney. D.T. then voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, the two remaining counts against Tierney. D.T. timely appealed.

Analysis

The Seminal Case: Gibson v. Brewer

In Gibson v. Brewer, 952 S.W.2d 239 (Mo. banc 1997), our Supreme Court analyzed a similar fact pattern in which a minor child parishioner alleged sexual abuse by a member of the Diocese’s clergy and, in so doing, asserted negligence and intentional torts against the Diocese. In Gibson, our Supreme Court analyzed the parameters upon which negligence and intentional torts may or may not be properly asserted against a religious organization for the conduct of its clergy.

With regard to the difference between negligence-based torts against the Diocese versus intentional torts, the Gibson court expressed the following neutrality guideline:

Religious organizations'are not immune from civil liability for the acts of their clergy. If neutral principles of law can be applied without determining questions of religious doctrine, polity, and practice, then a court may impose liability-

Id. at 246 (citation omitted).

The Gibson court then addressed the type of negligence claims that were asserted against the Diocese: negligent hiring; negligent ordination; negligent retention; negligent supervision; negligent infliction of emotional distress; and other independent claims of negligence against the Dio[147]*147cese related to its relationship as “master” to its “servant” members of the clergy. In rejecting each of these negligence claims, the Gibson court explained:

Questions of hiring, ordaining, and retaining clergy, however, necessarily involve interpretations of religious doctrine, policy and administration. Such excessive entanglement between church and state has the effect of inhibiting religion, in violation of the First Amendment.

Id. at 246-47 (internal citations omitted).

Adjudicating the reasonableness of a church’s supervision of a cleric — what the church “should know” — requires inquiry into religious doctrine.... [T]his would create an excessive entanglement, inhibit religion, and result in the endorsement of one model of supervision.

Id. at 247 (internal citations omitted).

Whether negligence exists in a particular situation depends on whether or not a reasonably prudent person would have anticipated danger and provided against it. In order to determine how a “reasonably prudent Diocese” would act, a court would have to excessively entangle itself in religious doctrine, policy, and administration.

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Bluebook (online)
419 S.W.3d 143, 2013 WL 5979189, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dt-v-catholic-diocese-of-kansas-city-st-joseph-moctapp-2013.