Doe v. Baker

• Decision Date: 29 April 2021
• Docket Number: Record No. 200386
• Citation: 857 S.E.2d 573
• Parties: Jane DOE, BY AND THROUGH Her Father and Next Friend, Jack DOE v. Michael L. BAKER, et al.
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

857 S.E.2d 573

Jane DOE, BY AND THROUGH Her Father and Next Friend, Jack DOE

v.Michael L. BAKER, et al.

Record No. 200386

Supreme Court of Virginia.

April 29, 2021

Jeffrey R. Adams (Lucas I. Pangle ; Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver, on briefs), for appellant.

Deborah E. Kane, for appellee Church of God.

John L. Cooley (Law Office of Cooley and Associates, on brief), Roanoke, for appellees Michael L. Baker, Thomas Jammes, Daniel Keith Gunter, Lowell Allen Roberson, Mitchell B. Corder and Virginia Church of God.

Amicus Curiae: Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (Juli M. Porto ; Blankingship & Keith, Fairfax, on briefs), in support of appellant.

Amicus Curiae: Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys (Melissa Y. York ; Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman, Richmond, on brief), in support of appellees Michael L. Baker, Thomas Jammes, Daniel Keith Gunter, Lowell Allen Roberson, Mitchell B. Corder and Virginia Church of God.

PRESENT: All the Justices

OPINION BY JUSTICE STEPHEN R. McCULLOUGH

Jane Doe appeals from the dismissal of her amended complaint. Jane alleges that, while still a minor, she was sexually molested by the retired, but still active, pastor of her church. The events took place at the pastor's home. The amended complaint named various individual and institutional church defendants. It alleged negligent hiring or retention, negligent failure to warn and protect, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, willful and wanton negligence, fraud, and vicarious liability. For the reasons detailed below, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment below and remand the case to the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

The circuit court dismissed the case based on its review of the amended complaint. Accordingly, we accept the allegations of the amended complaint as true to determine whether they are sufficient for the case to move forward. Parker v. Carilion Clinic , 296 Va. 319, 330, 819 S.E.2d 809 (2018).

I. ALLEGATIONS RELEVANT TO THE NEGLIGENT HIRING OR RETENTION COUNT.

Jonathan Eugene King served as a pastor with the Church of God from 1967 until 2011. The Church of God is a protestant denomination. The amended complaint states that the Church of God "is a Tennessee non-profit religious corporation" and that it "has a centralized form of church government, governed ultimately by the International General Assembly, whose constituents consist of members from local churches."

Before he was hired to serve as the pastor at a Church of God congregation in Waynesboro, "upon information and belief," "King had been involved in inappropriate behavior with women and/or young girls." More specifically, the amended complaint alleges that he was involved in "an inappropriate relationship with a young girl when he was a pastor in Marion, Virginia, immediately prior to being hired" at the church in Waynesboro, and, in addition, he engaged in "inappropriate behavior toward women while he served as a Church of God pastor in Charlottesville, Virginia." The amended complaint states that King was discharged from his pastorate in Marion.

King was then hired to serve as the pastor of Celebration, a Church of God congregation in Waynesboro, in August 1995. The amended complaint alleges that he was hired despite the national and Virginia church's "knowledge of his prior history of inappropriate behavior toward young women or, in the alternative, as a result of" the national or Virginia church's "failure to adequately investigate Pastor King's history of inappropriate behavior toward young women."

Not long after he was hired, a number of persons made allegations about King behaving inappropriately toward some women. For example, in December 1996, a member of the Waynesboro congregation wrote to the State Overseer to state that King's soul was "lost to sin." The amended complaint describes the State Overseer as the Administrative Bishop for the Church of God in Virginia. The writer forwarded an inappropriate letter that King had sent to two of her acquaintances, who were also members of the congregation in Waynesboro. The writer referenced prior conversations between the writer and the Overseer about King's "ongoing inappropriate behavior."

Later, in January 1997, another person wrote to the State Overseer asking the Overseer to prevent King from continuing to contact her and stating that King "needs help." Also in January 1997, yet another person wrote to the Virginia church, forwarding a letter King's daughter had written. The letter "referenced multiple incidents of [ ] King's sexual misconduct and predatory behavior," including an instance when he inappropriately touched another person, referred to in the amended complaint as "JaneD3." The letter from King's daughter referenced King's "unwanted and inappropriate advances on many women over the years." The person who forwarded the letter to the Virginia church asserted that the Church should "see and get to the bottom of this."

In January 2001, yet another person wrote to the person then serving as the State Overseer in Virginia, informing the Overseer that King had been writing inappropriate letters to her young niece. The writer enclosed letters from King to this niece and asked the Overseer to intervene to hold King accountable. In the enclosed letters, King "confesses his love" for the niece, "tells her that it is hard not being able to touch her, and asks her to send him pictures of herself."

In 2002, the State Overseer ordered or arranged for King and his wife to attend a Christian counseling and mental health facility. King and his wife attended in July 2002. Following the Kings’ visit to the facility, a counselor and a doctor from the facility sent a written report to the State Overseer, stating that King needed "to set healthy boundaries with women" and that King "need[ed] someone to hold him accountable" for his inappropriate actions. The report suggested that King "should meet with that person regularly for a while." This report indicated that King was told to attend the counseling "because of inappropriate communications with a young girl who was a member of the congregation at a church where he pastored prior to his tenure at Waynesboro Celebration." The report was placed in King's file at the Church of God State Office.

In February 2005, two women wrote yet another letter to the person then serving as the State Overseer, stating that King had been making sexual advances for years toward one of the authors of the letter. The letter described one instance in which King offered this woman $500 if she would send him pictures of herself "in various states of undress." The letter further stated that King arranged a meeting with this woman at the church parking lot in Waynesboro. There, he gave this woman $200 and a "sexual instrument while trying to put his hands down her pants." King instructed the woman to use the sexual instrument and return it to him. He "desperately" tried to kiss this woman on the mouth before leaving and "warned her not to tell anyone about his forceful and predatory advances." The letter writers asked the State Overseer to "make the right decision" and warned him that if he did not "a lot of other young women would be affected by [ ] King's ‘perverted sexual conduct in the future.’ "

In April 2005, another daughter of King wrote to the State Overseer stating she could "no longer ‘cover’ " for King and that the allegations made by the writers of the February 2005 letter were true. King's daughter further stated that she had personally heard a recording of King asking the woman he met in the parking lot whether she had used the sexual instrument, as he had requested. King's daughter stated that King had been terminated from at least one position before becoming pastor at Waynesboro Celebration and that this termination occurred because of his "inappropriate conduct with young girls." The writer further stated that the district pastor for the Church of God had "strong suspicions" about "unbecoming conduct" by King when he was pastor of a church in Charlottesville in the mid-1980s.

Also in April 2005, King's grandson wrote a letter to the Virginia State Office. This letter corroborated the statements in the February 2005 letter indicating that King had asked the woman he had met in the Church parking lot if she had used the sexual instrument he had provided to her. The grandson asked persons in a position of authority to "quit overlooking" King's inappropriate behavior.

The office of the Virginia church held all of the letters describing King's conduct. The Overseer replied to some of these letters. He stated that the Church would not take any action against King.

In March 2011, King announced his intention to retire. He further stated that he intended to continue serving the Church of God. He expressed a wish "to continue to minister and/or offer spiritual counsel or leadership to members of the Church of God, including members of the Waynesboro Celebration congregation." He maintained an active license as a minister from the Church of God. He formally stepped down as pastor in April 2011, "but continued to maintain a close relationship and serve as a spiritual leader to certain former congregation members from Waynesboro Celebration." The amended complaint further alleges that at all relevant times, including "at the time of Pastor King's tortious conduct," King was "an agent, volunteer, and/or employee of the Church of God and/or Virginia [Church of God]."

II. THE SEXUAL BATTERY OF JANE DOE.

The amended complaint alleges that King developed a relationship with Jane and her parents through the church. While he served as a pastor, King invited Jane and her parents to his home for meals, spiritual advising, and fellowship.

On July 8, 2016, more than five years after his retirement as pastor, Jane and her mother went to King's home to bring him and his wife tomatoes from the farmer's market. At the time, Jane was thirteen years old.¹...