Wende C. v. United Methodist Church, N.Y. W. Area

In Wende C. v. United Methodist Church, N.Y. W. Area (4 NY3d 293, 827 NE2d 265, 794 NYS2d 282 2005, cert denied 546 US 818, 124 S Ct 346, 163 L Ed 2d 57 2005), the plaintiff asserted that her pastor had engaged in sexual relations with her during a course of marital counseling, while " `acting within the authority granted to him by the defendant Church . . . under the guise of his role as pastor in the ministerial relationship between himself and . . . a congregant, and in his position as a responsible member of the clergy'" (id. at 299). In resolving this case, the Court left open the question whether sexual misconduct by a cleric could be redressed under an alternative theory of breach of fiduciary duty because the allegations in the complaint sounded in clergy malpractice and involved the examination of ecclesiastical doctrine to establish "the standard of due care owed to parishioners undergoing ministerial counseling" (id.)