members and denied their access to church funds and records. The critics sued derivatively for the church. The court found against Cudjoe and awarded plaintiffs damages for Cudjoe’s breach of fiduciary duties and misuse of funds. Cudjoe claimed on appeal that the court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate ecclesiastical matters.” For support, he cited the case of In Fowler v. Bailey. “internal, certain church members complained about the misuse of church assets and were Fowler, dismissed from membership. The court held that determinations of membership Fowler were ecclesiastical issues and were not appropriate for civil courts. It further stated that the plaintiffs were not a majority of the church and thus were not entitled to control church property. The court further held that church members have no statutory Fowler right of inspection under the Oklahoma Business Corporation Act. The court held that the plaintiffs had standing to pursue the claims. Unlike Griffin the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs represented a majority of the church Fowler Griffin membership, which was a standing requirement under The court rejected Fowler. Cudjoe’s attempted removal of the plaintiffs from membership, presumably because the removal vote was improper procedurally. The court then found that this was not a dispute about ecclesiastical matters, but a dispute simply about money, which the civil courts have long held the authority to decide. Having held that the plaintiffs had standing, the then held that they could maintain breach of fiduciary duty claims against Cudjoe and were entitled to inspect the church records. While the author believes the holdings in are correct, the court Griffin offers little analysis in determining these unique and unsettled issues. For example, whether a pastor or church owes fiduciary duties to the members was an open issue in Oklahoma. The fiduciary issue had arisen previously in Bladen v. First Presbyterian and Church of Sallisaw, N.H. v. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Schovanec v. Archdiocese The prior cases each involved a claim of fiduciary breach against the of Oklahoma City. church (not the individual pastor) and each case was resolved without a determination of whether the church owed a fiduciary duty to its members. The court presumes a Griffin fiduciary duty between the pastor and the members without discussion. The holding does
members and denied their access to church funds and records. The critics sued derivatively for the church. The court found against Cudjoe and awarded plaintiffs damages for Cudjoe’s breach of fiduciary duties and misuse of funds. Cudjoe claimed on appeal that the court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate “internal, ecclesiastical matters.” For support, he cited the case of Fowler v. Bailey. In Fowler, certain church members complained about the misuse of church assets and were dismissed from membership. The Fowler court held that determinations of membership were ecclesiastical issues and were not appropriate for civil courts. It further stated that the plaintiffs were not a majority of the church and thus were not entitled to control church property. The Fowler court further held that church members have no statutory right of inspection under the Oklahoma Business Corporation Act. The Griffin court held that the plaintiffs had standing to pursue the claims. Unlike the Fowler plaintiffs, the Griffin plaintiffs represented a majority of the church membership, which was a standing requirement under Fowler. The court rejected Cudjoe’s attempted removal of the plaintiffs from membership, presumably because the removal vote was improper procedurally. The court then found that this was not a dispute about ecclesiastical matters, but a dispute simply about money, which the civil courts have long held the authority to decide. Having held that the plaintiffs had standing, the then held that they could maintain breach of fiduciary duty claims against Cudjoe and were entitled to inspect the church records. While the author believes the holdings in Griffin are correct, the court offers little analysis in determining these unique and unsettled issues. For example, whether a pastor or church owes fiduciary duties to the members was an open issue in Oklahoma. The fiduciary issue had arisen previously in Bladen v. First Presbyterian Church of Sallisaw, N.H. v. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Schovanec v. Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The prior cases each involved a claim of fiduciary breach against the church (not the individual pastor) and each case was resolved without a determination of whether the church owed a fiduciary duty to its members. The Griffin court presumes a fiduciary duty between the pastor and the members without discussion. The holding does
Seminar-paper-recent-developments-2012.docx