Category: Churches
CHILD ABUSE CLAIMS ARE THE #1 REASON OREGON CHURCHES GET SUED
A study published in the November 2013 edition of Christianity Today states that the number one reason churches get sued is claims involving the alleged sexual abuse of a minor. (This is followed by insurance coverage disputes, religious freedom disputes, property disputes, and personal injury disputes, in that order.) This is particularly true in Oregon, which has some of the most pro-plaintiff laws in the country concerning a religious organization’s direct and vicarious liability for…
LIMITED VICARIOUS LIABILITY FOR “NON-EMPLOYEE AGENTS”
In 1999, the Oregon Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that made Oregon one of the few states that allow an employer to be held vicariously liable for an employee abusing a child. Fearing v. Bucher, 328 Oregon Supreme Court 367 (1999). This ruling was followed by a flood of child abuse lawsuits that resulted in the bankruptcy of the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in the 2000s given that it could be held liable for…
RELIGIOUS DEFENSES TO CLAIMS CONCERNING SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION – WHY THE “SWEET CAKES BY MELISSA” DISPUTE IS DIFFERENT
Oregon received national media attention earlier this year when its Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) announced in a January 2014 press release that a Gresham bakery violated the civil rights of a same-sex couple when it denied them service based on their sexual orientation. The couple filed a complaint against “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, a law that protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender Oregonians…
WHEN CAN AN OREGON CHURCH OR RELIGIOUS SCHOOL BE HELD LIABLE FOR DEFAMATION CONCERNING THE FIRING OF AN EMPLOYEE?
Oregon churches and religious schools are sometimes faced with the dilemma of having to terminate a priest, pastor, teacher, or other employee and then answer questions from the congregation or other employees about why the person was let go. Churches and religious schools can feel torn between wanting to explain what happened and fearing civil liability for defamation to a person who is upset that they were fired. The Oregon Court of Appeals stated…
