Rupp By and Through Rupp v. Brookdale Baptist Church

• Decision Date: 12 July 1990
• Citation: 242 N.J.Super. 457,577 A.2d 188
• Parties: William RUPP, an infant By and Through his Guardian ad Litem George RUPP and Betty Jo Rupp, Individually, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. BROOKDALE BAPTIST CHURCH, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 457

242 N.J.Super. 457

577 A.2d 188

William RUPP, an infant By and Through his Guardian ad Litem George RUPP and Betty Jo Rupp, Individually Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. BROOKDALE BAPTIST CHURCH, Defendant-Appellant.

Superior Court of New Jersey,

Appellate Division.

Argued June 5, 1990.

Decided July 12, 1990.

Virginia T. Shea, for defendant-appellant (Sellar, Richardson, Stuart & Chisholm, attorneys; Virginia T. Shea, Roseland, of counsel, and on the brief).

Katherine M. Lordi, Bloomfield, for plaintiffs-respondents.

Before Judges MICHELS, R.S. COHEN and BROCHIN.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

MICHELS, P.J.A.D.

We granted defendant Brookdale Baptist Church leave to appeal from an order of the Law Division which denied its motion for summary judgment in this action brought by plaintiff William Rupp, an infant by and through his guardian ad litem George Rupp, and plaintiff Betty Jo Rupp, individually, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by William during his participation in a day camp operated by the Church. The trial court denied the Church summary judgment because it was "not satisfied that the camp's purpose was to further religious education."

The facts are essentially uncontroverted. The Brookdale Baptist Church which is located in Bloomfield, New Jersey, was established in the 1890's and was incorporated in July, 1895. It is a not-for-profit organization, established exclusively for religious, charitable and educational purposes. According to its constitution, the Brookdale Baptist Church was created

to bear united witness to the faith of its members in the whole Bible as the inspired Word of God; to promulgate the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the faith once for all delivered to the saints; to aid in mission work and in the winning of the lost to the Lord Jesus Christ; and to build up its constituency in the most holy faith.

In 1987, the Brookdale Baptist Church organized a day camp program for grade school children called Adventure Day Camp. The purpose of the program was to integrate biblical truth into the lives of the children through formal teaching and informal activities such as crafts and games. As the camp handbook states:

The ultimate goal of Adventure Day Camp is the integration of Bible truth into the lives of campers--Matthew 28:19-20 (discipling) and II Timothy 3:17 ("thoroughly furnished unto all good works"). Each week we design activities for both salvation and growth spiritually, emotionally and socially.

The approach is two-pronged with both formal and informal teaching. While we believe both of these are Biblical, the natural setting and extended time from 8:30 AM--12:30 PM, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and 8:30 AM--3:30 PM on Thursday and Friday, make the informal teaching model most advantageous.

By formal teaching we mean the proclaiming of God's Word as we are commanded to do in many places in Scripture, such as Colossians 1:28-29. This is done twice daily, once during adventure story time and once during adventure memory time.

Informal teaching is the talking while living that Moses speaks of in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. In fact, this is one of the only places in all of Scripture where we are told the "how" of teaching children God's truth. This then is done all day long by modeling and talking God's Word as it would shed light on what is happening.

We operate a vertical schedule, featuring different days at various public parks and beaches:

Monday--Group Games

Tuesday--Crafts

Wednesday--Group Games

Thursday--Van Saun Park

Friday--Swim Day

A reading of the handbook and a letter sent to the parents of children involved, illustrates that the day camp program was designed to carry out the Church's goals. The program, which was open to all students in grades one through five, was organized into four one week sessions beginning on June 29. The camp hours were 8:30 to 12:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and 8:30 to 3:30 on Thursday and Friday. Campers were charged a nominal fee of $15 per week for the program. These monies, however, were used to help meet the costs of the program and were not turned over to the Church treasury.

William registered for the Adventure Day Camp and attended the program during the week of June 29, 1987 and on July 6, 1987. William's parents had registered him in the program to participate in the crafts and activities and not for religious training. According to plaintiffs, there were no scheduled religious studies or activities at the camp except for a few minutes of prayer. Plaintiffs are not members of the Brookdale Baptist Church and aside from William's participation in the camp, had no other contact with the Church. On July 6, 1987, William and a group of campers were playing a game in a park across the street from the Church. During the course of the game, William sustained injuries to his elbow. Following his injury, William did not return to the camp.

The Brookdale Baptist Church contends that as a religious, nonprofit organization organized exclusively for religious, charitable and educational purposes it is entitled to the protection of the charitable immunity statute. N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-7 et seq. We agree.

The principle of charitable immunity was deeply rooted in the common law of New Jersey. The principle is premised on the fact that charitable associations are created to pursue philanthropic goals and the accomplishment of those goals would be hampered if they were to pay tort judgments in cases similar to this matter. As one author has noted, three justifications are advanced in support of the doctrine:

The first is that trust funds which are devoted to charitable objects should not be diverted from those objects by the payment of tort claims. The second is premised on an alleged waiver by the injured party not to pursue a tort claim. The third reflects the alleged inapplicability of the doctrine of respondeat superior to an eleemosynary organization.

The inviolability of the trust funds' corpus represents the most viable defense of the charitable immunity doctrine. As noted over a century ago in Heriot, a person who makes a charitable contribution expects his donation to further the goals of the organization, and not to be used to satisfy lawsuits which bear no direct relationship to those goals. Utilizing this analysis, the concept of suing the negligent members, but not the charitable entity may be justified. [Bottari, The Charitable Immunity Act, 5 Seton Hall Legis J. 61, 63-64 (1980) ].

As this century progressed, however, the courts began to view charitable immunity with disfavor. The principle that the doctrine was socially beneficial was replaced with the belief that it promoted injustice and irresponsibility. Acting upon these beliefs, the New Jersey Supreme Court abolished the doctrine of charitable immunity in 1958. Collopy v. Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, 27 N.J. 29, 141 A.2d 276 (1958); Dalton v. St. Luke's Catholic Church, 27 N.J. 22, 141 A.2d 273 (1958); Benton v. Y.M.C.A., 27 N.J. 67, 141 A.2d 298 (1958). As the Court wrote in Collopy:

It may perhaps be that when D'Amato [v. Orange Memorial Hospital, 101 N.J.L. 61, 127 A. 340 (E. & A.1925) ] was rendered in 1925 it accurately represented the then prevailing notions of public policy. But times and circumstances have changed and we do not believe that it faithfully represents current notions of rightness and fairness. Due care is to be expected of all, and when an organization's negligent conduct injures another there should, in all justice and equity, be a basis for recovery without regard to whether the defendant is a private charity.

* * * * * *

The primary function of the law is justice and when a principle of the law no longer serves justice it should be discarded; here the law was embodied not in any controlling statute but in a judicial principle of the law of torts; it had no sound English common law antecedents and found its way into American law through a misconception; it runs counter to widespread principles which fairly impose liability on those who wrongfully and negligently injure others; it operates harshly and disregards modern concepts of justice and fair dealing; it has been roundly and soundly condemned here and elsewhere and the time has come for its elimination by the very branch of government which brought it into our system. [Collopy v. Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, supra, 27 N.J. at 39, 47-48, 141 A.2d 276].

Despite the Court's decision that charitable immunity was outdated and unjust, the Legislature immediately passed N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-7 et seq. to overrule the Collopy trilogy. N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-7, the focal point of the statute and the provision in issue here, provides in full:

No nonprofit corporation, society or association organized exclusively for religious, charitable, educational or hospital purposes shall, except as is hereinafter set forth, be liable to respond in damages to any person who shall suffer damage from the negligence of any agent or servant of such corporation, society or association, where such person is a beneficiary, to whatever degree, of the works of such nonprofit corporation, society or association; provided, however, that such immunity from liability shall not extend to any person who shall suffer damage from the negligence...