Suing Clergymen for Malpractice

Now parishioners are starting to emulate patients

In simpler times, most Christians felt bound by St. Paul's admonition (in I Corinthians 6) to "suffer yourselves to be defrauded" rather than take a fellow church member to court. That dictum has long been widely ignored. Now, litigious Americans are going even one step further: they are starting to sue the collars off their pastors for malpractice.

Consider the case of the Rev. DeWitt Hill, who preaches a puritanical life-style in his pentecostal church in Little Rock, Ark. A woman in his church was married to a Baptist who, says Hill, "liked to go nightclubbing and go to the dog races." When his wife divorced him, he sued the Rev. Hill for $1 million, on grounds of "alienation of affections through teaching of the Bible," also claiming that he does not go to nightclubs or bet on dog races. It took the jury only five minutes to decide in Hill's favor last year. But the husband is appealing. Hill meanwhile has already had to pay a lawyer $2,500 out of his own pocket. Perhaps worse, the yen for litigation nearly proved contagious. "I wanted to cross-file," Hill admits, "but my lawyer reminded me that would be returning evil for evil."

A sadder and more significant malpractice case will go to trial in California some time this year. The targets are the Rev. John MacArthur, 41, and his staff at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. The nondenominational evangelical church is the largest in Los Angeles County (20,000 members). MacArthur and his colleagues were counseling a troubled church member, Ken Nally. Eventually the young man killed himself in April 1979. His Roman Catholic parents sued, charging that the clergy "discouraged and prevented" their son from seeking professional psychological counseling. MacArthur attempted to get the case dismissed, claiming that the suit violated constitutional freedom of religion, as well as the confidentiality between a confessant and his priest. The court rejected his argument. Now the case will be tried on its possibly precedent-setting merits.

In response to such challenges, insurance companies have begun to sell malpractice protection policies to churches. The result may be baneful, especially for clergy most active in helping deeply troubled people. Just as medical doctors have grown leary of dealing with accident victims in certain circumstances, clergymen are likely to begin worrying about the legal risk of bringing spiritual succor. Says the Rev. Clifford Riis of Charleston, S.C.: "You hear about people collecting fortunes for almost any complaint. I began thinking about the possibility that I might be sued and I became cautious, especially with the people who came in off the street. I'll tell you, that doesn't make you feel very easy in conversation with people." Sixteen months ago, his congregation joined 1,700 others in the Lutheran Church in America and 5,700 United Methodist congregations in group liability plans offered through the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co.

Conventional policies have long been carried in most parishes to cover the church in case someone slips on ice in the church parking lot. Atlantic Mutual's malpractice clause is typical for a group package. It takes the form of a rider (at $25 extra a year) to protect pastors for as much as $300,000 in damage judgments and, more important, for unlimited legal expenses arising out of the performance of professional services for others in the insured's capacity as a pastoral counselor." The fees are far lower than medical malpractice premiums because the statistical risk is far smaller.

Although thousands of churches are now covered, some insurance companies have tried to avoid publicity on the new policies, fearing knowledge of their existence will only invite more lawsuits. "Buying insurance is buying trouble," admits Lynn Buzzard, executive director of the Christian Legal Society, an organization of about 3,000 evangelical lawyers. It should never be the job of secular courts, he says, to decide between "good and bad pastoral counseling." There are other grievances, of course. Says a South Carolina lawyer reflecting on the constitutionality of suits against clergy: "Malpractice insurance sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I know a preacher who married me whom I'd love to sue." qed

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