by God_Delusion 41 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
Elders will soon find themselves on their own in these types of cases because the WT corporate legal eagles
will find a way to effectively make them "franchises" - just like McDonald's and Taco Bell.
Jack in the Box.. Dub in the Box..
...........................
...OUTLAW
Right on the money, Outlaw...
JV
A sentence on page 28 par 11 of the June 15, 2012 Watchtower ( Re: Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 08-26-2012 WT Study (HOLY SPIRIT) ) criticizes human wisdom as follows: “Their advice is constantly being revised and updated as they come to realize that earlier advice was flawed”
I’m sure that there will be plenty of BOE letters in the coming months from Mother with revisions and updates due to earlier flawed advice on how to handle child molesters in the congregations!
WT forced to eat their own words!
I'm full of admiration for this woman . . .
Right from the start, it was forcing changes on WT for the sake of other children in the future that motivated her . . . and she is now sailing that ship all the way home. $1,440.00 was all that was claimed . . . a token and symbolic amount only. A big lesson in integrity for WTS . . . if they were ever capable of learning it in their self-seeking bubble. She's handled it with extraordinary maturity, honesty and selflessness.
JV . . . thanks for the additional info.
I might be going out on a limb here, but until we hear differently, the following information might be of use:
Compensatory Damages:
Regarding the jury award of $7M compensatory damage, the judge's order said: "The jury allocated responsibility as follows: Kendrick 60 percent; North Fremont 13 percent and Watchtower 27 percent. The jury also found an agency relationship to have existed between North Fremont and Watchtower. " As we read in older documents, Kendrick was let off the hook - he doesn't pay a dime or the 60% of the compensatory damage. This leaves Watchtower to pay 27% and the North Fremont Congregation to pay 13%. We understand that the Watchtower will pay the 13% owed by the congregation because of the agency relationship. The Watchtower then owes Candace 40% of the $7M compensatory damage award which is $2.8M.
Punitive Damages:
According to the latest court decision, the punitive damage award was reduced by the judge to $8,610,000.
$8,610,000 + 2,800,000 = $11,410,000 is the total of what we believe that Watchtower owes Candace Conti
For those of you who are still active brothers seeking out more responsibility within your Kingdom Hall - run, don't walk, away from any idea of becoming an elder or even a ministerial servant. You could find yourselves personally liable (just as the North Fremont KH was in the Conti case) and lose everything you own.
Regardless of the final outcome for the punitive damages, this has been a great victory. If it is leading to the congregations being separated from headquarters, it shows how much it is affecting the religion.
If elders are becoming personally responsible, and will not be offered legal representation by headquarters, it is likely that there will be more court cases against elders directly, as the legal costs will be a lot less, as will the risk of loosing. Once elders start being sued and loosing everything, you can imagine less reaching out, and also elders being less likely to disfellowship people. They will also be more inclined to involve the police rather than the Watchtower legal department in the case of crime.
You reap what you sow... I hope this will wake some people up.
btt
JV,
I've been thinking about what you've said on the possible restructuring. What it sounds like is similar to the way the Baptists are structured, with each congregation being autonomous. That has served them well in terms of not exposing the "mother" organization to lawsuits but they give up a lot of control.
I'm sure the WT Legal department would love to move in that direction and may even be recommending that course of action. But I just can't see them giving up that kind of control. Even if you make the local congregations their own legal entity (as is the case with many congregations in the US), the agency relationship would still apply if the WTS is still controling and directing management.
Maybe I'm wrong here but I think they'd really have to give up control to break the agency relationship.
