Veroni, Oregon's International Church of the Foursquare Gospel drew the ire of fired interim minister Tim Tubra after by accusing him of financial improprieties in a public statement made to the congregation. A jury found in favor of Tubra's lawsuit for defamation and ordered the church to pay $355,000.
The church argued that religious freedom laws protect it from the verdict, but an Oregon appeals court did not agree.
"The alleged defamatory statements – that the pastor had misappropriated money and had demonstrated a willingness to lie – would not always and in every context be religious in nature," Judge Rex Armstrong wrote for the court. "Thus, even though the statements related to plaintiff's conduct as pastor of the church, that fact does not render those statements absolutely privileged as a matter of law under the Free Exercise Clause."
Because that was the only basis for the church's motion for a directed verdict, Armstrong ordered the reinstatement of the original jury verdict.
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined the church's petition for a hearing in the case, leaving that ruling, and the jury verdict, in place.
