Appeals against disfellowshiping - EVER gone in complainants favour??

by steve2 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  steve2

  I hear a lot of talk about the Watchtower's provision of allowing appeals of local elders' decisions to disfellowship fellow witnesses. But does anyone know if such appeals have ever gone in the complainant's favour? I certainly haven't.

  I very much doubt if anyone who has been disfellowshipped has ever successfully appealed the decision. So, apart from exercising one's "right" to appeal, why would any newly disfellowshiped individual even bother going through the rigmarole of it all? It seems like an empty and needlessly cruel exercise for the individual to have to endure.
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  JustTickledPink

  I'm curious for the answer, but don't know myself.

  I would like to know what the time frame is on appealing a disfellowshipping? Is it that week or could it be done years later?
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  blondie

  I have posted this elsewhere but I know of 3 occasions where an appeal committee overturned the original decision.

  1) The person DF'd never was invited to the JC and when the "evidence" was looked into, there was none. That was a bad situation and led to 5 elders being removed.

  2) The appeal committee found the person to be repentant but not innocent of the charge so they were privately repproved.

  3) The person appealed it to the branch office who found there indeed was not enough evidence to DF the person. This was the first time I realized you could appeal to the branch office. I guess it is not widely known. It was a case of some JWs with clout letting their personal dislike of someone get out of hand. But this person was branded as a "difficult" brother after that.

  Blondie
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  Mulan

  I know of one case. After they won their appeal, they moved away and never went back. They were thoroughly disgusted. (married couple......................he was an investment broker, and some clients were from his congregation...........some investments didn't do well, and the ones who lost money got the elders involved, who said they should pay the people back.............ridiculous) When he refused and his wife supported it, they tried to disfellowship the both of them.

  They appealed and won.
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  steve2

  Hey blondie and Mulan thanks for the information. Good examples. I guess it would be safe to say that, while the decision to disfellowship is seldom successfully challenged on appeal, on rare occasions an appeal can succeed. steve2
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  newbie-australia

  I've been DF'd for 8 years or so now, and I tried to appeal recently by letters- stating that I was too young to know when baptized.

  Wrote to local society as well as Brooklyn. No luck with letter. THey want to meet to discuss.
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  Mary

  I know one guy who was probably going to be disfellowshipped for apostacy, and he brought his lawyer to the Judical Committee. The elders went nuts stating that the lawyer had no right to be there. The lawyer looked at them and said "...I assure you sir, that I do."

  His client was not disfellowshipped.
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  Elsewhere

  The elders went nuts stating that the lawyer had no right to be there. The lawyer looked at them and said "...I assure you sir, that I do."

  That's hilarious!
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  unbeliever

  I've heard a good way to get out of a DF'ing is to threaten to sue the elders personally. Bethel has made it known they will not cover their legal fees.