Martinelli v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan

• Decision Date: 31 March 1998
• Docket Number: No. 3:93CV1482 (JBA).,3:93CV1482 (JBA).
• Citation: 10 F.Supp.2d 138
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Frank MARTINELLI, Plaintiff, v. BRIDGEPORT ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESAN CORPORATION, Defendant.

Page 138

10 F.Supp.2d 138

Frank MARTINELLI, Plaintiff, v. BRIDGEPORT ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESAN CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. 3:93CV1482 (JBA).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

March 31, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William M. Laviano, Donna L. Ruhling-Laviano, Jennifer D. Laviano, Laviano Law Offices, The Executive Pavilion, Ridgefield, CT, for plaintiff.

Joseph T. Sweeney, James V. Somers, Halloran & Sage, Hartford, CT, Robert C. Danaher, Sr., Matthew G. Conway, Danaher, Tedford, Lagnese & Neal, Hartford, for defendant.

Joseph Dimyan, Pinney, Payne, Van Lenten, Burrell, Wolfe & Dillman, Danbury, CT, for James E. Sullivan, movant.

Ruling on Defendant's Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law [Docs. # 167, # 197]

ARTERTON, District Judge.

In this suit against the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese by its former parishioner, seeking compensation for his childhood sexual abuse by one of the Diocese's priests, the Court concludes that the First Amendment's requirement of separation of church and state does not bar adjudication of plaintiff's claims. The Court further concludes that the trial evidence was adequate to support the jury's finding that a fiduciary relationship existed and was breached in light of plaintiff's unquestioning trust reposed in his Diocese and Bishop for his moral and spiritual welfare, and the Diocese's deceptive response and failure to act on its unique knowledge of the potential jeopardy of plaintiff and other minors who were closely associated with the abusive priest. Because the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding of fraudulent concealment, this case is not barred by the statute of limitations.

This trial evidence was consistent with indicia recognized under Connecticut law as characterizing a fiduciary relationship: an invitation by the defendant to the plaintiff to repose his trust, the presence of the kind of relationship that generates a natural inclination to trust, and the position of the plaintiff in a position of weakness and vulnerability and the defendant in a unique position to receive and act on information bearing on plaintiff's welfare. Because the evidence was not so utterly lacking or contrary evidence so overwhelming that reasonable and fair-minded persons could only have found for the defendant, defendant's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law is DENIED, based on the following reasoning.

Because the determination of the plaintiff's case did not require adjudication of ecclesiastical questions, nor application of religious standards of care for clergy or church officials, the Court finds no excessive entanglement with the Court process and church tenets such that the constitutional separation of church and state is abridged.

Background

The plaintiff, a Wisconsin resident, brought this diversity lawsuit against the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese Corporation ("Diocese") to recover for damages sustained while he was a minor parishioner of the Diocese resulting from defendant's failure to investigate, warn and take remedial action following its knowledge of the sexual misconduct by Father Laurence Brett,¹ one of its parish priests.

At the close of evidence, the defendant moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a) [doc. # 167]. The Court reserved decision on defendant's motion as to Counts 3 and 4 (breach of fiduciary duty to investigate/warn/take appropriate remedial action and negligent infliction of emotional distress) as contemplated under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b). The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff on Count 3, awarding $750,000 damages. The amount of this verdict has not been challenged in defendant's post-trial motions, only the adequacy of evidence supporting it and a belated First Amendment challenge.

By use of a special verdict form, the jury found that the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that a fiduciary relationship existed between himself and the Diocese, and that the Diocese failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that it acted consistently with that duty. The jury also found that the defendant Diocese failed to disprove by clear and convincing evidence any of the elements of the fraudulent concealment exception to the statute of limitations, which would otherwise have barred this case.

On the count of Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, the jury found that the defendant engaged in negligent conduct that violated a duty of care owed by it to the plaintiff, should have realized that its conduct involved an unreasonable risk of causing emotional distress to the plaintiff, and that the defendant should have realized that the emotional distress might result in illness or bodily harm to the plaintiff. The jury found, however, that the plaintiff had not proved that he suffered emotional distress that was proximately caused by the this negligent conduct. The defendant's post-trial Rule 50 motion therefore concerns only Count 3, breach of fiduciary duty [doc. # 197].

Summary of Facts

The jury could have reasonably found the following facts from the evidence presented. In June 1962, as a newly-ordained and personally charismatic priest, Father Brett was assigned by defendant to St. Cecilia Church in Stamford, Connecticut, where the then-minor plaintiff was a parishioner with emerging aspirations to his own priesthood. During the two years that Father Brett was with St. Cecilia's through his assignment to youth work, he formed close relationships with a small group of teenage boys, including the plaintiff, who became inspired by his implementation of liturgical changes in the Roman Catholic Church as part of "Vatican II." Father Brett and the boys referred to their group as "Brett's Mavericks," "a name that [Brett] came up with that he used to describe five or six or seven of us that spent time with him talking about the liturgy, talking about Mass, talking about spiritual matters, things of that nature. It was something that made us feel real special." (R. at 933). According to the plaintiff, Brett acted as a mentor and spiritual advisor to "Brett's Mavericks," but also abused this position of authority and trust by sexually abusing plaintiff and other members of the group. Plaintiff recalled three specific incidents of his personal sexual abuse by Brett during the time that Brett was at St. Cecilia's.

As described by the plaintiff, the first incident occurred at St. Cecilia's Parish behind the grade school:

Well, my recollection is that it was after confession, we — he customarily walked — we did a walking confession outside frequently... We were walking along, confession finished, we happened to be in the back of the school near that X [on a photograph], and then all of a sudden he stopped me and began to help me pull down my pants and proceeded to perform fellatio on me. (R. at 958). The second incident took place in Brett's car in the parking lot of St. Cecilia's:

We were in his car. He pulled his penis out. He asked me to bring my mouth down on it, and my recollection is that I must have hesitated because he said, `It's OK, it's another way of receiving Holy Communion.'

(R. at 938). The third incident took place in Baltimore, during a trip that the plaintiff took with Brett and another member of Brett's Mavericks. Mr. Martinelli described it as taking place in the bathroom of the seminary where they stayed:

Well, at one point we were in a large bathroom, it was a big bathroom, it had small white tile, I was in my underwear and T-shirt, and at one point he pulled my underwear down, sort of pushed my shoulders back, kind of arched my back so my pelvis was kind of thrust forward, and he fondled me, and that's it.

(R. at 970).

After he became an adult, Mr. Martinelli lost his memories of that abuse, and it was only in 1991, during a phone conversation with a high school friend and fellow Brett's Maverick as the friend made reference to Brett's abuse of him that the memories of Martinelli's own experiences came flooding back to him. As the plaintiff described it, the feelings came "from the center of my being, these just really strong feelings, like a wave, and I started to cry and I said, `Tony, I think that's what happened to me.'" (R. at 971).

In September 1964, Father Brett left St. Cecilia's, to join Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport as a spiritual director, and served as a member of a diocesan commission on sacred music and the liturgy. On December 1, 1964, a parent complained to the Diocese that Brett had sexually molested his 19-year-old son and Sacred Heart student ("T.F."). The Diocese's report of the matter indicates that Father Brett admitted the accuracy of T.F.'s complaint to the Bishop and as well informed him and the other diocesan officials present that "his problem," which he "discovered" while in Stamford, was known to only a small number of other people and that he had sought counseling for it. The report noted that T.F. "was worried about the other boys who had gone to New York with Father Brett," although Father Brett "denie[d] that anything happened on those occasions." The report concluded that Brett was to be removed from his duties and that "a recurrence of hepatitis was to be feigned should anyone ask."

Brett was thereafter sent to New Mexico to the Via Coeli Monastery, Servants of the Paraclete, ostensibly for psychiatric treatment. Although the Diocese declined Brett's requests to resume work as a priest in Connecticut, it continued to provide him with financial support and took no steps to alter his status as a priest. The Diocese was also aware when Brett returned to Connecticut to live with his aunt and that he was assisting in the aunt's parish of St. Augustine's Church in Seymour, Connecticut.

In January 1966, the Bridgeport Diocese received a second complaint about Father Brett's past sexual misconduct with boys in Connecticut. According to the Diocese's reportage of the complaint, Father Brett was...