Phillips v. Marist Soc. of Washington Province

• Decision Date: 30 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2583,95-2583
• Citation: 80 F.3d 274
• Parties: Kimberly PHILLIPS, Appellant, v. The MARIST SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON PROVINCE, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 274

80 F.3d 274

Kimberly PHILLIPS, Appellant, v. The MARIST SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON PROVINCE, Appellee.

No. 95-2583.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 8, 1996.

Decided April 4, 1996.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied May 30, 1996.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas; George Howard, Jr., Judge. No. 93-CV-845.

Morgan E. Welch, Little Rock, AR, for appellant.

Carrie K. Huff, Chicago, IL, for appellee.

Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, BOWMAN, Circuit Judge, and JONES, ^* District Judge.

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Kimberly Phillips alleges that she is a third-party beneficiary to an implied contract between the Marist Society and one of its priests. We conclude that Phillips has not introduced sufficient evidence to show the existence of the implied contract that she has alleged, and we affirm the order of the District Court ¹ granting summary judgment to the Society.

While serving as a chaplain in the United States Air Force, Timothy Sugrue, a Marist priest, sexually assaulted Phillips, then a girl of seven to eight years of age. Years later Phillips sued both Sugrue and the Society for the injuries she suffered as a result of Sugrue's intentional tortious conduct. Phillips obtained a $1.5 million judgment against Sugrue, but the jury found that the Society was not liable for negligent supervision. Phillips made a demand on the Society for the amount of the judgment against Sugrue, but the Society refused to pay. Phillips contends that this refusal constitutes a breach of an implied contract between the Society and Sugrue, and Phillips has brought this separate action against the Society claiming that she is a third-party beneficiary of the implied contract. Describing the contract in her complaint, Phillips alleges that "Father Sugrue agreed to turn over all present or after acquired income, property or other assets, wherever situated[,] to the Marists in exchange for the Marist's [sic] agreement to support Father Sugrue for life and to pay all of Father Sugrue's 'just debts.' " Complaint at p 15.

The District Court granted the Society's motion for summary judgment, concluding that analyzing the relationship between the Society and Sugrue would require the court to interpret canon law and other religious authorities. The court held that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prohibits secular courts from such intrusions into ecclesiastical affairs. The court stated that Phillips's effort "to concoct a parallel secular contract ... cannot exist outside the framework, interpretation and application of Canon Law and the laws of the Marist [Society] which evaluation violates the First Amendment." Order at 12. The court also stated that Phillips "simply cannot divorce the 'vow of poverty' from its religious application." Id.

On appeal, Phillips argues that the contract between Sugrue and the Society was secular and not religious. Phillips also argues that, even if some religious doctrine is implicated by the secular contract, secular courts could review the contractual issues under the "neutral principles of law" approach. See, e.g., Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 602-03, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 3025, 61 L.Ed.2d 775 (1979). We will assume for the purposes of this appeal that Phillips's arguments on these issues are correct. It is well settled, however, that a court of appeals may affirm on any ground supported by the record, whether or not that ground was addressed by the District Court. Auman v. United States, 67 F.3d 157, 161-62 (8th Cir.1995). Applying that rule, we conclude that, even if the First Amendment does not bar a secular court's consideration of the issues raised by Phillips's lawsuit against the Society, Phillips has not produced sufficient evidence of a contract to survive the Society's motion for summary judgment. We thus affirm the judgment of the District Court, although our rationale differs from the reasons stated in the District Court's thorough and well-written order.

We review de novo a district court's decision to grant a motion for summary judgment. Maitland v. University of Minn., 43 F.3d 357, 360 (8th Cir.1994). Summary judgment will be affirmed if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the prevailing party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Summary judgment is mandated when the nonmoving party fails to introduce sufficient evidence to establish an essential element of the case for which that party would have the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In this case, we must decide whether Phillips has produced sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute of fact concerning the existence of the implied contract she has alleged, an essential element of Phillips's contract claim.

As a preliminary matter, it appears that the parties disagree over whether Arkansas law or the law of the District of Columbia controls the resolution of the legal issues raised in this appeal. We agree with the statement of Judge Richard A. Posner that "before entangling itself in messy issues of conflict of laws a court ought to satisfy itself that there actually is a difference between the relevant laws of the different states." Barron v. Ford Motor Co. of Canada, Ltd., 965 F.2d 195, 197 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1001, 113 S.Ct. 605, 121 L.Ed.2d 541 (1992). Having reviewed the relevant laws of Arkansas and the District of Columbia, we conclude that the legal principles involved in this case, rooted as they are in the common law of contracts, are the same in both jurisdictions. We thus do not need to engage in a choice-of-law analysis. See Forsyth v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 520 F.2d 608, 613 (9th Cir.1975) ("In the absence of a true conflict, lex fori controls.").

The issue in this case is whether Phillips has come forward with sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find the existence of an implied-in-fact contract between the Society and Sugrue that would obligate the Society to pay judgments entered against Sugrue for intentional tortious conduct such as the sexual abuse of a minor. Under the common law of contracts, a contract may be either express or implied. Steed v. Busby, 268 Ark. 1, 593 S.W.2d 34, 38 (1980); see also Yasuna v. Miller, 399 A.2d 68, 74 n. 14 (D.C.1979). A promise, express or inferred, is an indispensable element of every contract. See Downtowner Corp. v. Commonwealth Securities Corp., 243 Ark. 122, 419 S.W.2d 126, 128 (1967); see also Richardson v. J.C. Flood Co., 190 A.2d 259, 261 (D.C.1963). The terms of a contract implied in fact, that is, a contract defined by the presumed intentions of the parties rather than by their expressed intentions, can be inferred from the acts of the parties or the general course of dealing between the parties. See Steed, 593 S.W.2d at 38; see also Richardson, 190 A.2d at 261. The conduct of the parties is to be evaluated from the point of view of a reasonable person, considering all of the attendant circumstances. Roebling v. Dillon, 288 F.2d 386, 388 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 366 U.S. 918, 81 S.Ct. 1095, 6 L.Ed.2d 241 (1961).

In her brief to the District Court, Phillips characterized the alleged implied contract as one in which the Society pays all the expenses, debts, and obligations of its priests in return for the priests' pledges to turn over all of their income and property. Phillips, however, has failed to produce any evidence that tends to prove the existence of such a broad contract. At most, Phillips's evidence may be sufficient to show that the Society has promised to pay the necessary living expenses of its priests. That showing, however, is a far cry from showing a promise by the Society to pay any and all of its priests' debts, no matter how incurred.

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