The state Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit by a suspended Warren priest against another clergy member who revealed potentially false sexual-abuse claims against the plaintiff, due to the Constitutional pillar that separates church and state.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled against Rev. Eduard Perrone in the appeal of his lawsuit against Rev. E. Michael Bugarin, a St. Clair Shores-based priest who is part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit review panel for clergy abuse. The judges say in a Dec. 21 opinion that state courts cannot have jurisdiction over “ecclesiastical matters forbidden under the First Amendment of the Constitution.”
Perrone also alleged “false light” and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” over Bugarin saying the AOD had found allegations by Perrone’s accuser as “credible, meaning they had a semblance of truth,” judges wrote in the seven-page opinion.
“The issue of whether the defendant’s conduct was extreme and outrageous depends on how the Archdiocese evaluated (the accuser’s) claims of sexual abuse, to determine whether or not they were in fact, credible,” the ruling says. “Resolution of the claim would also require the trial court to assess the Archdiocese’s meaning of ‘credibility,’ and whether that comports with commensurate standards under the law.
“Such an inquiry by the trial would be improper under the First Amendment because it would, in effect, second guess the Archdiocese’s decisions...
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