Combined Tithing lawsuite has been dismissed with prejudice

[webbles]

The tithing case that was trying to become a class action lawsuit has been dismissed with prejudice (meaning they can't refile, though they can still appeal).  The decision can be read at https://www.scribd.com/document/851093929/Judge-rules-on-LDS-Church-tithing-lawsuit.  Here's also one of the articles about it https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/04/17/federal-judge-dismisses-tithing-lawsuit-church-of-jesus-christ/

Here's the reason for dismissal from the decision:

Quote

Considering Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss together, the court concludes (1) Defendants' statute of limitations defense precludes each of Plaintiffs' claims and, in any event, (2) Plaintiffs plead insufficient facts under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b) and 9(b) to show they are entitled to relief.  Accordingly, the court dismisses each of Plaintiffs' claims with prejudice and denies as moot Defandants' Motion to Strike.

 

[webbles]

One of the topics we had on this board back when the lawsuit was filed was whether the "Utah Charitable Solicitation Act" gave a fiduciary duty between the church and its members.  See https://law.justia.com/codes/utah/title-13/chapter-22/section-23/ to read the specific part.

The judge ruled (pages 31-33) that it did not give any fiduciary duty between donors and the charity.  He basically said the plain reading of the act is that it is a fiduciary duty to the organization, not to the donors.

[JustAnAustralian]

It's interesting reading the judgement. It seems that once they got past the copy-paste lawsuits and had to actually argue something, the plaintiffs didn't actually have anything of value to argue.

The other good thing is that (as with the huntsman suit) the judges didn't rely on the church autonomy doctrine for the outcome. The more that go this way the better.

Edited April 19, 2025 by JustAnAustralian

[The Nehor]

Seems like a good call.