Man Sues Pastor $2 Million For Having Sex With His Wife

[matcom]

<snip>

A jury on Wednesday awarded $2 million to a man who sued his former pastor for having sex with his wife while the couple were receiving marriage counseling from the church leader.

Jim Faulkner sued former Dalraida Church of Christ pastor Floyd Bailey after discovering the sexual relationship between Bailey and his wife, Paris Faulk-

ner, in 2000. At the time, Paris Faulkner was Bailey's secretary, and the couple had gone to him for marital advice.

Faulkner claimed Bailey used his position as a pastor and marriage counselor to bring an end to the couple's marriage. The couple got divorced after Jim Faulkner found out about the four-month affair.

Jim Faulkner had asked for $1.8 million in punitive damages and $82,000 for lost wages and attorneys fees. On Wednesday he was awarded $2 million in punitive damages and $67,000 in compensatory damages.

Punitive damages are an amount assigned by juries to punish the wrongdoer in civil cases. Compensatory damages are actual monetary losses experienced by a plaintiff.

Bailey's defense was that he was acting as a minister, not a counselor, when he advised the Faulkners. Ministers cannot be sued for negligence or malpractice under Alabama law, unless they take on the role of a counselor.

Faulkner's attorney, Frank Hawthorne, said the verdict would be a warning to other pastors thinking of straying from their duties.

"This is a serious problem that needs to be corrected in the counseling community," Hawthorne said after the jury announced its decision.

After the verdict Jim Faulkner said little except that he wanted to put the affair and its aftermath behind him.

"I'm just glad it's over. I'm glad the jury saw the truth," he said.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5TRIAL05W.htm

[Maddy McCall]

1. Kinda similar situation happened in Mississippi...

...when a former governor and his wife went to a pastor for marital counseling. The pastor taped his counseling sessions with the wife, and turned them over to the husband, who then turned around and used them in court against his wife.

She sued the pastor, but the suit was dismissed. Go figure.