Sexual Misconduct by Clergy and Church Workers - Part 1

Sexual misconduct by clergy, lay employees, and volunteers

Key point 10-09.2. Some courts have found churches not liable on the basis of negligent supervision for a worker's acts of child molestation on the ground that the church exercised reasonable care in the supervision of the victim and of its own programs and activities.

Negligence as a Basis for Liability

* The Alabama Supreme court ruled that an employer cannot be liable for the sexual misconduct of an employee unless it had prior knowledge of similar incidents. Knowledge of prior threats of harm, or dissimilar crimes, is not enough to impose liability. While this case involved a hospital, the court's conclusions are of direct relevance to other charities, including churches. A married couple sued a hospital, and a male nurse employed by the hospital, for damages their 6-year-old daughter suffered as a result of having been sexually ...