Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A federal district court held that dismissal of a clergy abuse complaint against a Catholic diocese was warranted where the plaintiff offered generalized allegations regarding a clergy member’s alleged misconduct without providing any factual support.

In 1965, Brother Barton allegedly sexually assaulted William Murray, 12, after they met at a Catholic summer camp in Maryland. Two years later, Barton allegedly took Murray to New York, where he allegedly sexually assaulted him over approximately one month. The alleged abuse occurred in various places, including Barton’s living quarters and the campus of Nazareth High School. Murray sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, alleging negligence, negligent retention and supervision, and gross negligence. After the plaintiff amended his complaint, the defendant moved to dismiss.

Granting the motion, the district court noted that in New York, schools owe a special duty to students and may be liable for foreseeable injuries. The plaintiff’s allegations do not support an inference that he had been the defendant diocese’s student, the court found, adding that his complaint did not note any interactions he or his parents had had with the diocese or Barton’s affiliation with it. Moreover, the court said, the plaintiff was never an enrolled student in any school or institution within the diocese, precluding a finding that the diocese had had physical custody over him.

The court also rejected the plaintiff’s claim that the diocese was liable under a premises liability theory, specifically that the diocese should have been aware of Barton’s sexual assaults on its property. The court found that the plaintiff specified only that the alleged abuse occurred on the Nazareth campus “multiple times” and made no allegations that the diocese had known of his presence on the campus at the time of the abuse.

Turning to the plaintiff’s negligent retention and supervision claims, the court also found that the plaintiff did not allege that the diocese had been aware of Barton’s alleged misconduct or Murray’s existence during the time of the alleged abuse. Barton’s frequent transfers alone, the court said, do not support the plaintiff’s claim that the diocese should have known that Barton was a child predator.

The court found Murray’s conclusory statements, without more, do not support his allegations that the diocese was liable for failing to protect him from Barton. Consequently, dismissal was warranted.

Citation: Murray v. Nazareth Reg’l High Sch., 2022 WL 3139116 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, 2022).