Picher v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland

2009 ME 67, 974 A.2d 286, 2009 Me. LEXIS 71, 2009 WL 1926706
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 7, 2009
DocketDocket: Ken 08-81
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 2009 ME 67 (Picher v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Picher v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, 2009 ME 67, 974 A.2d 286, 2009 Me. LEXIS 71, 2009 WL 1926706 (Me. 2009).

Opinions

SILVER, J.

[¶ 1] William Picher appeals from a judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Marden, J.) granting a summary judgment to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland on its affirmative defense of ehar-itable immunity. Picher argues that we should abrogate the doctrine of charitable immunity for acts of negligence associated with the sexual abuse of a minor, and that we should not extend the doctrine to intentional torts. We hold that the doctrine should not be abrogated as to Picher’s negligence claims because we see no basis for permitting charitable immunity as a defense to some types of negligence claims but not others. However, we also decline to interpret the relevant statute, 14 M.R.S. § 158 (2008),1 to extend the reach of charitable immunity to intentional torts. We therefore vacate the judgment as to the intentional tort claim of fraudulent concealment but affirm the judgment as to the remaining claims.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] Picher brought this suit against a former priest, Raymond Melville, and the Bishop, based on sexual abuse of Picher by Melville when Picher was a minor in the late 1980s. Picher asserted claims against Melville for negligence, sexual assault and battery, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, clergy malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty. Melville defaulted. Picher asserts claims against the Bishop for negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, canonical agency, and fraudulent concealment of facts.

[¶ 3] Picher alleges that the Bishop was on notice that Melville had abused a child before he was ordained as a priest [289]*289and before he was assigned to the parish where the abuse of Picher occurred. Picher further alleges that the Bishop failed to report Melville to law enforcement officials and concealed Melville’s propensities from parishioners and the public. The Bishop denies these allegations.

[288]*288A charitable organization shall be considered to have waived its immunity from liability for negligence or any other tort during the period a policy of insurance is effective covering the liability of the charitable organization for negligence or any other tort. Each policy issued to a charitable organization shall contain a provision to the effect that the insurer shall be estopped from asserting, as a defense to any claim covered by said policy, that such organization is immune from liability on the ground that it is a charitable organization. The amount of damages in any such case shall not exceed the limits of coverage specified in the policy, and the courts shall abate any verdict in any such action to the extent that it exceeds such policy limit.

[289]*289[¶ 4] The Bishop is a corporation sole.2 See Fortin v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, 2005 ME 57, ¶ 3 & n. 1, 871 A.2d 1208, 1212. It operates as a non-profit organization and owns, maintains, and operates multiple churches, schools, and other properties. It has no capital stock and no provision for making dividends or profits, and it derives most of its revenues from charitable sources, although parochial school tuition and fees are not considered one of its charitable sources of revenue.

[¶ 5] From July 1, 1986, to July 1, 1988, during the period when the alleged acts occurred, the Bishop was insured by Lloyd’s of London pursuant to two consecutive policies, each of which contained an endorsement entitled “Sexual Misconduct Exclusion.” This endorsement provides that “[sjexual or physical abuse or molestation of any person by the Assured, any employee of the Assured or any volunteer worker does not constitute personal injury within the terms of this policy and as such any claim arising, directly or indirectly, from the aforementioned is excluded.”

[¶ 6] The Bishop moved for summary judgment based on its affirmative defense of charitable immunity. The court granted the Bishop’s motion, holding that the Bishop qualifies as a charitable organization and has not waived its charitable immunity pursuant to 14 M.R.S. § 158 because it has no insurance coverage for the claims made by Picher. The court also held that the doctrine of charitable immunity covers both intentional and negligent torts. After a damages hearing, a final judgment was entered against Melville in the amount of $4,227,875. Picher appealed the grant of a summary judgment in favor of the Bishop.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

[¶ 7] We review a grant of a summary judgment de novo, considering “the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment has been granted to decide whether the parties’ statements of material facts and the referenced record material reveal a genuine issue of material fact.” Brawn v. Oral Surgery Assocs., 2003 ME 11, ¶ 15, 819 A.2d 1014, 1022 (quotation marks omitted). “We will affirm a grant of summary judgment if the record reflects that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Burdzel v. Sobus, 2000 ME 84, ¶ 6, 750 A.2d 573, 575. “A genuine issue of [290]*290material fact exists when there is sufficient evidence to require a fact-finder to choose between competing versions of the truth at trial.” Lever v. Acadia Hosp. Corp., 2004 ME 35, ¶ 2, 845 A.2d 1178, 1179. Interpretation of a statute is reviewed de novo. Ashe v. Enter. Rent-A-Car, 2003 ME 147, ¶ 7, 838 A.2d 1157, 1159.

[¶ 8] The Bishop asserts a charitable immunity defense as to Picher’s claims for negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraudulent concealment. Because we treat the intentional tort claim of fraudulent concealment differently from the negligence claims, we discuss them separately, after we explain the history of the doctrine of charitable immunity.

B. History and Current Status of Charitable Immunity

[¶ 9] Picher does not explicitly argue that charitable immunity should be abrogated for all acts of negligence, but he does contend that it should be abrogated for acts of negligence in cases, such as this, involving the sexual abuse of a minor. The policy rationale supporting charitable immunity is the protection of charitable funds. See Jensen v. Me. Eye & Ear Infirmary, 107 Me. 408, 410-11, 78 A. 898, 899 (1910). Although the rationale itself may be challenged as outdated, as we discuss below, we would need persuasive grounds to hold that charitable funds should be protected against certain types of negligence claims but not others. Without any such grounds, we decline Picher’s invitation and do not address the issue further.

[¶ 10] Picher has, however, directly challenged the application of charitable immunity to all intentional torts, an issue we have not previously had occasion to consider. Our decision not to extend the doctrine to intentional torts is based on three aspects of its history: (1) charitable immunity is discredited and has been abandoned in the majority of jurisdictions; (2) the Legislature did not intend to expand the scope of the common law doctrine of charitable immunity when it enacted section 158; and (3) we have previously held that we would maintain, but not expand, the doctrine, and we would leave it to the Legislature to decide whether to abolish it. We address each of these in turn.

1.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Integris Ins. Co. v. Tohan
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2026
Eastern Maine Medical Center v. Walgreen Co.
2025 ME 10 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2025)
Joe Doe v. Bishop of Charleston
Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2025
Haynes v. Moppin
Maine Superior, 2023
Douglass v. Sellick
Maine Superior, 2022
Karen S. Klein v. University of Maine System
2022 ME 17 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2022)
Skolnik v. Doughty
Maine Superior, 2021
O'Shea v. O'Shea
Maine Superior, 2020
Infosecurus, Inc. v. Peterson
Maine Superior, 2018
In re Carol A. Boardman
2017 ME 131 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2017)
Amy L. Canney v. Strathglass Holdings, LLC
2017 ME 64 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2017)
Canney v. Strathglass Holdings, LLC
2017 ME 64 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 ME 67, 974 A.2d 286, 2009 Me. LEXIS 71, 2009 WL 1926706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/picher-v-roman-catholic-bishop-of-portland-me-2009.