Case not just a church matter, court holds

By The Associated Press

04.01.01

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BOSTON — A state appeals court reinstated several claims on March 28 in a lawsuit by a former Episcopalian priest who charged he was slandered when his diocese made public an alleged extramarital sexual relationship and subsequent suspension.

The Rev. James Hiles sued the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in 1996 after he was suspended for alleged sexual misconduct. A lower court judge dismissed portions of the suit, saying only an ecclesiastical court could decide church disputes.

But the Massachusetts Appeals court said the judge was wrong to decline jurisdiction and that the lower court should hear the claims.

Hiles, who was rector at two churches, was suspended by Bishop M. Thomas Shaw in 1996 after a woman said she had been in a sexual relationship with Hiles from 1969 to 1975. Hiles sued, saying the diocese slandered him by publicizing his suspension and the allegations.

He said one reason for his suspension was his refusal to meet the diocese's demand that he help resolve a legal dispute between the diocese and one of his churches over a $2 million bequest.

Hiles also accused Shaw of assaulting him by throwing a pen at him during a meeting about the bequest.

The appeals court said while the First Amendment prohibits civil courts from intervening in disputes concerning religious doctrine, discipline, faith or internal organization, it does not preclude them from hearing Hiles' allegations.

"We argued that slander and assault were secular torts and they had nothing to do with internal organization or church doctrine, and the court agreed," said Stephen C. Hoctor, an attorney for Hiles.

William F. Looney Jr., an attorney for the diocese, said he was surprised by the ruling. "It seemed to me that the evidence warranted the conclusion that the acts were undertaken in connection with the administration of church affairs," he said.

Shaw and other officials at the diocese headquarters in Boston could not be reached for comment.

Update

Massachusetts high court: Priest can't sue church for slander
Unanimous ruling cites First Amendment in finding that courts cannot interfere with church's discipline of clergymen.  08.17.02