Opinion ID: 2408492
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Negligent Hiring/Ordination/Retention of Clergy

Text: The Gibsons allege that the Diocese was negligent in hiring/ordaining and then retaining Brewer. Negligence is conduct which falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm. Restatement (Second) of Torts sec. 282 (1965). To establish a claim for negligent hiring or retention, a plaintiff must show: (1) the employer knew or should have known of the employee's dangerous proclivities, and (2) the employer's negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. Gaines v. Monsanto Co., 655 S.W.2d 568, 571 (Mo.App. 1983). See also McHaffie v. Bunch, 891 S.W.2d 822, 825-26 (Mo. banc 1995); Porter v. Thompson, 357 Mo. 31, 206 S.W.2d 509, 512 (1947). Religious organizations are not immune from civil liability for the acts of their clergy. H.R.B. v. J.L.G., 913 S.W.2d 92, 98 (Mo.App.1995). If neutral principles of law can be applied without determining questions of religious doctrine, polity, and practice, then a court may impose liability. Presbyterian Church v. Mary Eliz. Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, 393 U.S. 440, 449, 89 S.Ct. 601, 606, 21 L.Ed.2d 658 (1969); Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 603, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 3025, 61 L.Ed.2d 775 (1979); Presbytery of Elijah Parish Lovejoy v. Jaeggi, 682 S.W.2d 465, 467-68 (Mo. banc 1984). For example, a church can be vicariously liable for the negligent operation of a vehicle by a pastor in the scope of employment. See, e.g., Garber v. Scott, 525 S.W.2d 114, 119-20 (Mo. App.1975); cf. Cox v. New Hampshire, 312 U.S. 569, 574, 578, 61 S.Ct. 762, 765, 767, 85 L.Ed. 1049 (1941). This Courtwhen abolishing the doctrine of charitable immunity in Missouriauthorized a person who slipped and fell on church premises to sue for negligence. Garnier v. St. Andrew Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, 446 S.W.2d 607, 608 (Mo. banc 1969). The result is that the church, as the owner and occupier of the premises in question, is subject to all the duties and liabilities which are incident to the ownership and possession of real estate. Claridge v. Watson Terrace Christian Church, 457 S.W.2d 785, 787 (Mo. banc 1970). Questions of hiring, ordaining, and retaining clergy, however, necessarily involve interpretation of religious doctrine, policy, and administration. Such excessive entanglement between church and state has the effect of inhibiting religion, in violation of the First Amendment. See Agostini v. Felton, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 2015, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997); Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 708-11, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 2380-81, 49 L.Ed.2d 151, reh. denied, 429 U.S. 873, 97 S.Ct. 191, 50 L.Ed.2d 155 (1976). See also Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679, 80 U.S. 679, 727, 20 L.Ed. 666 (1871). By the same token, judicial inquiry into hiring, ordaining, and retaining clergy would result in an endorsement of religion, by approving one model for church hiring, ordination, and retention of clergy. Agostini, ___ U.S. at ___, 117 S.Ct. at 2015. A church's freedom to select clergy is protected as a part of the free exercise of religion against state interference. Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral of Russian Orthodox Church, 344 U.S. 94, 116, 73 S.Ct. 143, 154-55, 97 L.Ed. 120 (1952). See also Gonzalez v. Roman Catholic Archbishop, 280 U.S. 1, 16, 50 S.Ct. 5, 7-8, 74 L.Ed. 131 (1929); Scharon v. St. Luke's Episcopal Presbyterian Hosp., 929 F.2d 360, 363 (8th Cir.1991). Ordination of a priest is a quintessentially religious matter, whose resolution the First Amendment commits exclusively to the highest ecclesiastical tribunals of this hierarchical church. Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. at 720, 96 S.Ct. at 2385. The trial court did not err in dismissing the claims of negligent hiring/ordination/retention.