Kant v. Lexington Theological Seminary

• Decision Date: 27 July 2012
• Docket Number: NO. 2011-CA-000004-MR,2011-CA-000004-MR
• Parties: LAURENCE H. KANT APPELLANT v. LEXINGTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY APPELLEE
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

LAURENCE H. KANT APPELLANT v. LEXINGTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY APPELLEE

NO. 2011-CA-000004-MR

Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals

RENDERED: JULY 27, 2012

TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT

HONORABLE KIMBERLY N. BUNNELL, JUDGE

ACTION NO. 09-CI-04070

OPINION

AFFIRMING

BEFORE: ACREE, CHIEF JUDGE; KELLER AND MOORE, JUDGES.

MOORE, JUDGE: Laurence H. Kant appeals the Fayette Circuit Court's order dismissing his complaint against Lexington Theological Seminary. After a careful review of the record, we affirm because the "ecclesiastical matters rule" and the "ministerial exception" are applicable to this case.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case was brought by Laurence H. Kant against Lexington Theological Seminary (LTS) alleging breach of contract and breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing after LTS terminated Kant's employment. Kant was a tenured faculty member at LTS. LTS maintains Kant's employment was terminated after it restructured its curriculum and that as a religious institution, its action was protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

LTS is affiliated with the Christian denomination known as the Disciples of Christ. The mission statement of the seminary provides: "The purpose of [LTS] is to prepare faithful leaders for the church of Jesus Christ and, thus, to strengthen the church's participation in God's mission for the world." This statement is written in very large font and is italicized at the beginning of the Faculty Handbook. Immediately following the mission statement is a section entitled "BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES," which states:

The basic responsibility of faculty shall be to uphold the purpose of Lexington Theological Seminary to prepare the faithful leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ, and, thus, to strengthen the Church's participation in God's mission for the world. Whether or not they are ordained, faculty are expected to serve as models for ministry.

According to the affidavit in the trial court record of James P. Johnson, President of LTS, "[e]verything the Seminary does revolves around this aim," i.e., "preparing faithful leaders for the Church of Jesus Christ and to strengthen the Christian Church's participation in God's mission for the world."Johnson further averred that "[a]ll of the Seminary's degree programs are faith-based and intended to prepare students for Christian Ministry." To further explain this, Johnson stated that "[t]he Seminary does not offer any degree programs or courses with a strictly secular purpose. Because all of its course offerings are religious, the Seminary is a purely ecclesiastical institution that does not hire any faculty members to teach secular courses." As Kant's counsel acknowledged before this Court at oral argument, all students enrolled at LTS are there to prepare for Christian ministry.

Kant is not a minister and is of the Jewish faith. A fair reading of his qualifications reveals that he is a scholar in Jewish studies, among other subjects.

In 2000, Kant accepted an offer to teach an "Introduction to Greek" class at LTS. The following year, he accepted LTS's offer for the one-year position of "Professor of New Testament." In 2002, Kant accepted LTS's offer of the position of "Assistant Professor of Religious Studies ('tenure-track')."

Kant applied for tenure in January of 2006. As part of his application, he wrote a self-evaluation which explained that he had taught fourteen courses at LTS. In defining his future core interests and also suggesting a possible title for his position, Kant wrote:

On the latter, I would recommend the following: "Associate[¹] Professor of the History of Religion." As I have taught a wide variety of courses, I regard the following areas as integral in my responsibilities: 1) Biblical Studies (including biblical languages, as needed); 2) Jewish Studies and Jewish-ChristianRelations; 3) World Religions (including religions in the US); 4) Religion and Cultural Studies (including thematic courses, such as religion and violence, religion and literature, and religion and film). My roots and interests start with scripture, but cover a wide expanse of intellectual territory beyond it. Many of my courses would cover more than one of these areas (such as "Bible, Holocaust, and Jewish and Christian Memory."). Likewise, most of my courses touch in some way Jewish studies and cultural studies. "Jesus the Jew" is one new course I would very much enjoy teaching. In addition, I can easily transform my course, "Thinking Theologically in the Church," to "The Meaningful Life" for use in another context. Indeed, issues of meaning are what motivate many in our pool of potential students. I have a solid foundation of courses from which to draw and hope to be able to repeat many of them in future years.

I very much look forward to my coming years at LTS and to contributing in every way possible to the goals of our institution. Thank you so much for having the courage to include a Jewish scholar in your vision of a Christian seminary and for welcoming me in such an open and warm way. I value this not only from a scholarly, intellectual, theological, and pedagogical point of view, but from a personal and spiritual one as well. I welcome any thoughts on how I might contribute further to the mission of LTS and on how I might most effectively use my skills.

Kant was thereafter granted tenure in March of 2006 as an Associate Professor of the History of Religion at LTS. According to the Faculty Handbook:

Tenure at Lexington Theological Seminary means appointment to serve until retirement, resignation, or dismissal for adequate cause. Tenure appointment is one way that the Seminary safeguards the freedoms outlined in this Handbook. Along with tenure, however, go the responsibilities specified in the Handbook as well as an added expectation of leadership in the faculty.

Regarding dismissal of tenured faculty, the Handbook provides that "[t]he only grounds for dismissal of a tenured faculty member are moral delinquency, unambiguous failure to perform the responsibilities outlined in this Handbook, or conduct detrimental to the Seminary."

In 2009, LTS declared a financial emergency, which was due in part to the downturn in the national economy. The trial court record contains an article from the Courier-Journal.Com, dated January 14, 2009, reporting on the situation at LTS. The article noted that LTS's endowment fund had shrunk from $25 million to $16 million from 2007 to 2009. The article further stated that the declaration of a financial emergency was "an official declaration that the seminary's survival [was] at stake." As a result of this financial emergency, LTS announced its plans to eliminate tenure and reduce the number of faculty and staff it employed, as well as to reorganize in efforts to keep the seminary open.

On July 20, 2009, LTS filed a motion in Fayette Circuit Court, In the matter of Lexington Theological Seminary, Civil Action No.: 09-CI-896, styled "Motion to Release Restrictions." In the accompanying memorandum in support of the motion, LTS stated that it had

experienced a material decline in its endowment over the past year due to the unprecedented financial crisis in the United States. One unfortunate aspect of this decline is that the value of LTS's endowment fund is now below the "historic dollar value" (as that term is defined in KRS [Kentucky Revised Statutes] 273.510) of the endowment fund. As a consequence, LTS's Board of Trustees has taken dramatic steps to reduce the institution's expenses (including, but not limited to, drastically reducing itsworkforce, eliminating the tenure of its faculty, materially cutting costs and restructuring its curriculum to better meet the needs of the denomination - (The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)—that it principally serves)[)]. LTS also is hereby requesting this Court to release restrictions on the endowment fund. LTS's survival depends on the Court's provision of the requested relief; if the Court were to overrule the present motion, LTS almost certainly would be forced to liquidate its assets and cease operations.

As a result of the reorganization and restructuring of its curriculum, LTS desired "to better meet the needs of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)." It tailored its curriculum "to focus on better integrating students into congregations through a pastoral life program." A brochure in the trial court record outlines this new program and includes the statement "A New Approach to Theological Education."

LTS sent a written offer, ² dated February 24, 2009, to Kant stating that because of the financial exigencies that LTS was experiencing, its Board had decided to "eliminate tenure and restructure its faculty and staff." LTS proffered in the proposed agreement to continue to employ Kant through the spring semester of 2010, despite its financial exigencies, if Kant agreed to release any and all claims he may have against LTS. If Kant refused to sign the proffered agreement, then his employment would terminate at the end of the spring 2009 semester. Kant refused to sign the agreement. Therefore, his employment was terminated at the end of the spring 2009 semester.

Kant then filed his complaint in the circuit court against LTS, alleging that LTS had breached his contractual right to tenured employment and breached the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. Kant requested a declaratory judgment declaring that his termination was a material breach of his contractual right of tenured employment. He also sought compensatory damages and punitive damages from LTS.

LTS filed its answer in the circuit court and also moved to dismiss the action or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. LTS argued, inter alia, that the case involved an ecclesiastical matter and that the ministerial exception applied. Thereafter, the circuit court entered an order denying the motion to dismiss/motion for summary...