Tucker v. Roman Catholic Diocese

• Decision Date: 23 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. 18A05-0505-CV-252.,18A05-0505-CV-252.
• Citation: 837 N.E.2d 596
• Parties: Debra TUCKER, Individually and as the Personal Representative of the Estate of Rick Tucker, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE-IN-INDIANA, Most Reverend William L. Higi, Very Reverend Robert Sell, Reverend Dennis Goth, and Harry Metzger, Appellees-Defendants.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

837 N.E.2d 596

Debra TUCKER, Individually and as the Personal Representative of the Estate of Rick Tucker, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE-IN-INDIANA, Most Reverend William L. Higi, Very Reverend Robert Sell, Reverend Dennis Goth, and Harry Metzger, Appellees-Defendants.

No. 18A05-0505-CV-252.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

November 23, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Adam M. Dulik, Dulik & Vigh, LLC, Indianapolis, for Appellant.

Bruce McSpadden, John C. Duffey, Stuart & Branigin LLP, Lafayette, for Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette.

Michael J. Quirk, Quirk & Rivers, Charles R. Clark, M. Edward Krause III, Beasley & Gilkison LLP, Muncie, for Harry Metzger.

OPINION

KIRSCH, Chief Judge.

Debra Tucker appeals the trial court's dismissal of her suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, Most Reverend William L. Higi ("Bishop Higi"), Very Reverend Robert Sell ("Monsignor Sell"), and Reverend Dennis Goth ("Father Goth") (collectively the "Diocese").¹ On appeal, she raises numerous issues, the following of which we find dispositive: Whether the trial court properly dismissed Tucker's amended complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6).

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

When reviewing a T.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, this court accepts as true the facts alleged in the complaint. City of New Haven v. Reichhart, 748 N.E.2d 374, 377 (Ind.2001). At all times relevant to the complaint, Bishop Higi, Monsignor Sell, and Father Goth were part of the Lafayette Diocese, which employed Metzger as a lay person to teach CCD classes to children, instruct lectors, assist with the direction of the children's choir, and serve as Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister.

Tucker alleges that in 1966 she was ten years old and attended CCD classes at St. Lawrence Parish ("Parish") in Muncie, Indiana. From 1966 through 1968, Metzger sexually abused Tucker by forcing her to perform oral sex on him and by engaging in sexual intercourse with her. These acts took place numerous times a month when Metzger would either remove Tucker from her CCD class or wait for her at a nearby park. Tucker did not report this sexual abuse for fear that Metzger would prevent her parents from receiving instruction in the Roman Catholic Church, or have her brother Rick, who was training to be a priest, removed from the seminary. Tucker also did not report the abuse because her mother suffered from depression that required frequent hospitalization.

In 1968, Tucker's family moved out of the Parish and she did not see Metzger again until he attended her parents' funerals in 1981 and 1993. In 1994, Metzger was part of a Parish group that painted Tucker's house. In 1999, Tucker began counseling with Father William Grady. In June of that year, Tucker and her brother met with Father Grady, one of Metzger's daughters, and the daughter's husband. During that meeting, Metzger's daughter admitted that Metzger had also sexually abused his daughters.

Tucker saw Metzger twice in the spring of 2000. Thereafter, Tucker and her brother met with Monsignor Sell, Father Grady, and Tucker's personal therapist. At the meeting, Monsignor Sell promised Tucker that Metzger would not have any contact whatsoever with children at the Parish and that the Parish would strip Metzger of his duties as CCD instructor and Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister. Tucker, in turn, did not pursue legal action against the Parish, Metzger, or the Diocese. Tucker alleged, "Monsignor Sell's promise to plaintiff in mutual consideration for Plaintiff's not seeking legal recourse constituted a binding contract between the parties." Appellant's App. at 196. Monsignor Sell told Tucker in July 2000 that "everything was taken care of." Appellant's App. at 196. In August 2002, Tucker told her brother that the Diocese had taken no action to enforce its promise. A few weeks later, Tucker's brother committed suicide.

In her amended complaint, Tucker alleged that the Diocese materially breached the terms of their agreement, and that she had been damaged as a proximate result of that breach. Tucker asserted that the breach proximately caused her to suffer severe emotional distress.

Aware that her claim could be barred by the statute of limitations, Tucker argued that the Diocese's failure to report Metzger's abuse, as required by law, tolled the statute of limitations. She further alleged that the Diocese acted negligently in its hiring and supervising of Metzger. In March 2005, the trial court granted the Diocese's motion to dismiss Tucker's original complaint. Tucker timely amended her complaint, but, in March 2005, the trial court granted the Diocese's T.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss Tucker's amended complaint for failure to state a claim. Tucker now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Tucker contends that it was improper for the trial court to grant the Diocese's motion to dismiss her amended complaint with prejudice. A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint. Ogden v. Premier Props., USA, Inc., 755 N.E.2d 661, 665 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). In reviewing the dismissal of a complaint pursuant to T.R. 12(B)(6), the facts alleged in the complaint must be taken as true and only where it appears that under no set of facts could plaintiffs be granted relief is dismissal appropriate. Watson v. Auto Advisors, Inc., 822 N.E.2d 1017, 1023 (Ind.Ct.App.2005), trans. denied; Lawson v. First Union Mortgage Co., 786 N.E.2d 279, 281 (Ind.Ct.App.2003); Ogden, 755 N.E.2d at 665. Additionally, such a motion should be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party by resolving all inferences in the non-moving party's favor. Watson, 822 N.E.2d at 1023. Our review of a dismissal pursuant to T.R. 12(B)(6) is de novo, requiring no deference to the trial court's decision. Id.; Sims v. Beamer, 757 N.E.2d 1021, 1024 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). If a complaint states a set of facts that, even if true, would not support the relief requested therein, we affirm the dismissal. Watson, 822 N.E.2d at 1023. We may affirm the grant of a motion to dismiss if it is sustainable on any theory. Id.

I. Breach of Contract

In Count I of her amended complaint, Tucker claimed that the Diocese had breached its oral contract with her. She asserted that during a July 2000 meeting, "Monsignor Sell promised to ensure that Metzger would not have any contact whatsoever with children at the Parish and that the Parish would strip Metzger of his duties as a CCD and lector instructor and Extraordinary Eucharistic minister." Appellant's App. at 195. She further claimed, "That Monsignor Sell's promise to [Tucker] in mutual consideration for [Tucker]'s not seeking legal recourse constituted a binding contract between the parties." Appellant's App. at 196. Tucker claimed that the Diocese took no action to enforce its contract and that, upon learning of this breach, Tucker suffered severe emotional distress.

Here, the trial court dismissed Tucker's claim reasoning that her oral contract violated IC 32-21-1-1, Indiana's Statute of Frauds, and, as such, could not be enforced. IC 32-21-1-1, in pertinent part, provides that a party may not bring an action to enforce a promise that is not to be performed within one year from the making of the promise unless the promise is in writing and signed by the party against whom the action is brought. The Diocese's promise was not in writing and could not be performed within one year. While the Diocese could have fired Metzger from its employ within one year, the Diocese also promised that "Metzger would not have any contact whatsoever with children at the Parish." Appellant's App. at 195. This promise had no stated time frame. Instead, it asserted the Diocese's ongoing duty to keep Metzger away from Parish children. Moreover, the only damages placed at issue by Tucker were her emotional distress damages. Such damages are not recoverable under a pure breach of contract theory. Holloway v. Bob Evans Farms, Inc., 695 N.E.2d 991, 995 (Ind.Ct.App.1998) (citing Plummer v. Hollis, 213 Ind. 43, 11 N.E.2d 140 (Ind.1937)). The trial court properly dismissed Tucker's contract action with prejudice.

II. Promissory Estoppel

In Count II of her amended complaint, Tucker added the new theory of promissory estoppel as a means to circumvent the Statute of Frauds. Estoppel is a judicial doctrine sounding in equity. "Although variously defined, it is a concept by which one's own acts or conduct prevents the claiming of a right to the detriment of another party who was entitled to and did rely on the conduct." Brown v. Branch, 758 N.E.2d 48, 51-52 (Ind.2001).

Our Supreme Court has observed:

"[I]n order to establish an estoppel to remove the case from the operation of the Statute of Frauds, the party must show [] that the other party's refusal to carry out the terms of the agreement has resulted not merely in a denial of the rights which the agreement was intended to confer, but the infliction of an unjust and unconscionable injury and loss.

In other words, neither the benefit of the bargain itself, nor mere inconvenience, incidental expenses, etc. short of a reliance injury so substantial and independent as to constitute an unjust and unconscionable injury and loss are sufficient to remove the claim from the operation of the Statute of Frauds."

Id. at 52 (quoting Whiteco Indus., Inc. v. Kopani, 514 N.E.2d 840, 845 (Ind.Ct.App.1987) (citations omitted), trans. denied).

Here, assuming without deciding that there was sufficient evidence to support the elements of promissory estoppel, the question remains whether Tucker's allegations to the trial court were sufficient to state a claim that Tucker suffered an "`unjust and unconscionable injury and loss."' Id. at 53 (quoting Whiteco, 514 N.E.2d at 845). In her amended complaint, Tucker alleged that her "loss" was caused by forbearance in filing legal actions...