State Supreme Court clears way for $68 Mln. abuse lawsuit against Diocese

Email | Print By Drew Ruble

01-18-2005 1:01 PM — The Tennessee Supreme Court paved the way for a $68 million child abuse lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville to go forward Tuesday in a unanimous ruling that sets a new legal standard for finding reckless infliction of emotional distress.

According to the court’s opinion, written by Justice Frank Drowota, reckless infliction of emotional distress “need not be based upon conduct that was directed at a specific person or that occurred in the presence of a plaintiff.” It is the first court decision in the nation to reach that finding.

The decision reverses Court of Appeals and trial court decisions. The case has now been sent back to trial court for further proceedings.

The case involves lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Nashville brought by two boys who were sexually abused by former priest Edward McKeown in 1991 and 1995. McKeown is currently serving a prison sentence for prior molestation. The Catholic Diocese of Nashville did not employ McKeown at the time he began molesting the two plaintiffs. However, the plaintiffs’ consolidated lawsuits allege that the Diocese should be held liable given that church officials knew of previous instances of abuse by McKeown and failed to prevent him from molesting again. The lawsuit also alleges that the Diocese paid McKeown $50,000 to remain quiet about child abuse after he stopped working there in 1989.