DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) – A former parishioner and employee of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Detroit is suing for damages over the way his termination was publicized. Randy Bowers filed a lawsuit against St. Mary’s, former moderator Fr. Mario Amore, the archdiocese of Detroit and the Spiritan Fathers earlier this year, after an alleged attack on his character.
Background
According to the court filings, Bowers became a parishioner of “Old St. Mary’s” in the 1990s and was later hired to be its business manager in April 2014. It is further noted that the archdiocese “gave control and supervision of a grouping of four Catholic parishes that included St. Mary Parish to Defendant Rev. Mario Amore” in July 2021. The groupings of parishes in Detroit were known as “families of parishes.”
The same month, Fr. Amore asked Bowers not only to remain in his role but to be the business manager for all four parishes in the grouping. Bowers accepted the role.
But according to court pleadings, Fr. Amore
indicated to Plaintiff that he wanted to use substantial monies that were historically property of St. Mary Parish for various purposes and projects within the other three parishes within the new “family” grouping, to which Plaintiff objected given his role at St. Mary Parish and his knowledge that the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law … generally prohibits such transfers.
It’s also claimed that Fr. Amore no longer wanted Bowers’ services “so it would be easier for him to handle the parishes’ monies without any immediate scrutiny.” This led to the termination of Bowers’ employment, which happened at a July 18, 2022 meeting with Fr. Amore, along with “representatives” of the archdiocese and the Spiritan Fathers. The lawsuit further alleged that Fr. Amore claimed at the meeting that Bowers committed “financial irregularities,” while not providing any evidence. He also reportedly “immediately forbade Plaintiff from attending services at St. Mary Parish.”
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The document cites canon law to claim Fr. Amore’s decree of banishment from the parish was not something the cleric had authority to pronounce. Canon 843, §1 states, “Sacred ministers cannot deny the sacraments to those who seek them at appropriate times, are properly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them.”
After Bowers was fired, St. Mary’s announced his departure in the July 31, 2022 parish bulletin.
The Claim
While Bowers’ termination and the alleged surrounding circumstances could be viewed as a wrongful move by Fr. Amore, the actions were not illegal. The lawsuit was filed because of alleged damages stemming from the way Bowers’ departure was depicted. The lawsuit claimed that following Bowers’ termination, “Defendants then proceeded to attack his character and standing in the community by announcing in the parish bulletin that Plaintiff’s departure was ‘a personal matter’ and ‘there is no other information … to provide.'”
Fr. Mario Amore
The court filings described the use of “personal matter” to depict a departure from the post was “consistent with the decades long practice of how the Catholic Church classified employees and clergy that did something of a criminal, sexual, or nefarious
nature.”
The institutional Church has lacked transparency in numerous cases in which priests have been shuffled around or “taken breaks” from active ministry, as well as when other employees have left positions for unreported scandalous reasons.
According to filings, the claim was corroborated by fellow parishioners, who “approached Plaintiff after learning about his departure, stating that several members of the parish community were led to believe Plaintiff did something of a criminal, sexual, or nefarious nature, as his departure was both sudden and described as ‘personal matter.'”
The lawsuit also alleged Fr. John Owusu-Achiaw, a Spiritan, “told several parishioners that he later regretted how Plaintiff was treated by Defendants and the false impressions that he sustained due to Defendants’ actions.” Bowers claims he continues to suffer harm due to “the intentional actions of Defendants” and “from being banished from attending services at the parish.” As such, he’s seeking monetary relief for the alleged damages.
The Response
On May 1, the archdiocese filed a motion for summary disposition because Bowers ostensibly “failed as a matter of law to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Specifically, the archdiocese argued the claims fail because the entirety of Bowers’ case rides on the word “personal” and what is implied by it, submitting that “Plaintiff’s own speculative opinion that the parish declining to comment publically on the details of an employment matter as ‘personal’ somehow leads to the conclusion that he ‘did something of a criminal, sexual, or nefarious nature’ is truly absurd.”
The archdiocese also claimed the original print was an honest mistake, alleging that a “typographical error” resulted in the use of the word “personal” instead of “personnel.” The attorneys maintained that, nevertheless, the words didn’t operate to produce a false statement.
The Latest
Bowers’ representatives responded to the motion to dismiss on June 5, asking the judge to deny the motion. On Sept. 8, Judge Annette Berry denied the archdiocese’s motion to dismiss the case, and the lawsuit has proceeded to the discovery process.