Woman allowed to sue pastor for revealing infidelity

by bebu 19 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  bebu

  Here is an interesting news article today... Now, I am wondering, is there a loophole here which could let ex-JWs who have been defamed by announcements from the platform also sue for defamation of character? Has it been tried before?

  bebu

  http://www.nbc5.com/irresistible/3429593/detail.html

  Woman Can Sue Pastor For Revealing Her Infidelity

  POSTED: 11:27 am EDT June 17, 2004

  FORT WORTH, Texas -- A Texas court says a woman can sue her pastor for allegedly telling their congregation that she had an extramarital affair and was planning to divorce her husband.

  Peggy Penley was a member of the Rev. C.L. Westbrook's Crossland Community Bible Church when he involved her and her then-husband in counseling to help their troubled marriage.

  After Penley shared her plans with the pastor, she says, he wrote a letter to the congregation saying she was involved with another man and planned to get divorced, so church members must break "fellowship with her until the time of repentance andrestoration."

  Church bylaws allow the congregation to discipline members for inappropriate behavior.

  But an appeals court in Fort Worth said Penley can proceed with a lawsuit challenging her pastor's actions as a counselor under the Texas Licensed Professional Counselor Act.
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  imallgrowedup

  Good find, Bebu! The "eyes" in Bethel are probably trying to figure out how to hack into JWD right this instant so they can delete this post - just so as to not give the 'postates any ideas!!!!!

  growedup who sure does admire her friend "Sherlock"!!!!!
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  bebu

  Sorry to disappoint ya, growedup...

  I just heard this news bit on the radio, and it made me wonder... if elders announce someone has disassociated themselves--or makes any announcement that someone finds defamatory, hurtful, misleading, and, especially, occurs without someone's permission... could they also be held liable?

  I'm sure this has been hashed around before. But I'm wondering if this Texas case opens the door a bit more. I hope so.

  Penley can proceed with a lawsuit challenging her pastor's actions as a counselor under the Texas Licensed Professional Counselor Act.

  Are elders also under counselor laws in their states? Could JCs be considered counseling? It seems sometimes JCs are arranged without knowledge or consent, and folks walk into them unprepared, and have all their words used against them, and then some.

  If information in private meetings are made public against the wishes of a counseled person... and use private information to "mark" or DF people, and make announcements from the platform that result in defamation--especially when they are requested NOT to--would they also not be liable? I personally think they should be. Very.

  bebu

  class-lawsuits-A-ok-in-my-book class
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  XQsThaiPoes

  I have been talking to people here about these laws and how the elder circumvent them. This is not legal advice but from many states if you are not a councilor and represent you self as such you are liable and breaking the law.

  Councilors have privileged Like lawyers and Doctors.

  In many places if you schedule a time you are a councilor, take donations or pay for services, or call you self a councilor.

  The way the JWs gets around this is the elders don't schedule meetings at the hall, they meet in groups to make the meeting public, they are never paid by anyone including the wts.

  The other thing is they avoid signing a non-disclosure agreement like most legitimate councilors insist on signing. If you got them to actually behave like councilors they would be liable for dfing you by jc or making your dfing public.

  Most state are very generous in these types of lawsuits and use ?if it walks like a duck? for a rule of thumb. This is because they register councilors and license them like Doctors. So basically if you get a lawyer to write up some nice NDAs and instruct you how to use them then you will be well protected.

  Also this is a good fire wall to keep them from pulling you in for any reason. You basically are asking them to make them selves accountable if they are to help you a good thing.
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  Eyebrow2

  no...we don't want the elders to ever have the so called clergy confidence rule. They claim that they are not clergy, and they try to hide behind that when it comes time to report abuse to the authorities.

  As far as the pastor...I think that church does have a right to take an action against those in the congregation if they don't abide by the laws. HOWEVER, she had not yet divorced her husband, and he should have not told of those plans. As far as talking about her affair, while I don't think that it was right, this is definately a gray area it seems. He was a fool for doing it though, because how many church members are going to trust their pastors when they need to confide in someone?
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  XQsThaiPoes

  There is no ecclesicatical privegelege in a modern court of law. That is a myth. THis is civil. This is different. So you are mixing apples and oranges. You want them to have confidentiality.
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  happy man

  .

  This is an important issu, confidentiality, is the weapon JW use to hide bad thing done by the bigg boys, this is not from the bibel, can you show me one place in the bibekl as say that we must hide bad things done by others,

  This policy are behind that sex abuse cane be done from eldersto children and nowna will now this, terribel and not from Christ as Is ay, so I want to start a war against this polyci , ofccorse it is not so fun fore these who have rape or use minors sexualy that the cong must now, bt must not the sheep now if they have a sheepheard as is dangerus fore them ofcourse they must.

  So away widh this confidentiality, if some do a bad thing give a talk abluit it and give him dfd or reproof if he say he is repentant.

  Not like it is now, if it is not so bad things we tell it in a talk, but if it is very bad it is most likely hide and only steep down i and hide reproof is the punishment.

  this is at least my expiriens.
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  Country_Woman

  I've never heart of - in case of d.f.ing - giving the "why".

  When ever an elder told the congregation this "why" I assume he is making a big mistake.

  So normally, there is no case I think.
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  XQsThaiPoes

  Their is a case the fact you were DF lets you know the elder broke confidentiality.

  Also what does this have to do with child abuse? I mean there have been two post about it. This has nothing to do with child abuse! This has to do with the fact in most places like medical records counselors records are confidential and can't be share with a third party other than law inforcement with out writen consent. And attorney client priviledge means nobody not even law enforcement can know. So why don't people attack that?

  And BTW a JC is not in the bible either. It is just a way to subvert the law to make a private meeting public so they don't have to worry about confidentiality.
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  Special K

  Hi Bebu

  There was a thread on here about two weeks ago concerning Germany. Apparently, there they may not be announcing disfellowshipping and Disassociations from the platform anymore in that country.

  ..Maybe it has something to do with this sort of thing. Slander, defamation of character, etc.

  I was also thinking it may have something to do with what has happenned in Moscow and the banning of Jehovah's Witnesses in that city siting things like it causes division and break of the family.

  Good find Bebu..

  love

  Special K

  (food for thought)