A former minister was barred by the ministerial exception from pursuing his claims for statements made by his church to the congregation that the homosexual pastor was fired for engaging in “sinful” conduct. In Gunn v. Mariners Church, Inc. (2008) __Cal.App.4th___ (G038445), the court of appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision granting the religious employer, Mariners Church’s motion for summary judgment against Robert Gunn, a former worship director at the church.
The church terminated Gunn upon discovering his sexual orientation and then proceeded to make statements about the termination to church staff and congregation. The day after the termination, some of the senior church leaders announced to the congregation that Gunn had been terminated due to his “sinful” conduct, had suffered “a breakdown in character” and was a “broken man.” Gunn sued the church for intentional infliction of emotion distress, defamation and invasion of privacy.
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