Key point 10-13.01. A few courts have found churches and denominational agencies liable on the basis of a breach of a fiduciary duty for the sexual misconduct of a minister. In some cases, the church or agency is found to be vicariously liable for the minister's breach of a fiduciary duty, but in others the church or agency is found to have breached a fiduciary duty that it had with the victim.
This section reviews court decisions in which a church or other religious organization was found liable on the basis of breaching a fiduciary duty.
"Courts in other jurisdictions are divided on whether it is constitutionally permissible to subject a member of the clergy to tort liability for the breach of a fiduciary duty to a parishioner. Some have adopted the view that the claim a clergyman violated a fiduciary duty is simply another way of saying that he committed malpractice, and is barred ...
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