Q: Our ministry is being sued. What should we do?

A: Provide a copy of the lawsuit to your ministry's attorney and seek counsel on how to respond.

You should promptly provide a copy of the lawsuit to your ministry's attorney and seek counsel on how to respond appropriately. If you are a Brotherhood Mutual policyholder, please contact your agent immediately. If your agent is unavailable, you should contact the Claims Department directly at 800.333.3371.

Check with your attorney before you provide any documentation or issue any communication related to the issue. 

In addition, you should keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Check with your attorney before you provide any documentation or issue any communication related to the issue.
• Provide information to your employees and volunteers on a “need to know“ basis after consulting with your attorney.
• Do not discard any documents—including email—that are potentially relevant to the litigation.

 Recommended Resources

If you found this information helpful, you might be interested in these other resources from Brotherhood Mutual:

• Learn how to avoid discipline-related legal problems in our article Avoiding Lawsuits Arising from Church Discipline.
• Reduce your exposure to liability by following our suggested Accident and Medical Emergency Guidelines.
• Read about minimizing risk when ministering to the youth in our article Managing High-Risk Activities.

More Questions?

Do you have a question that wasn’t covered in this article? Submit your question to Brotherhood Mutual’s Legal Assist team.

This information is intended to be helpful. However, it is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney/client relationship. Every circumstance is different, and an organization's rights and obligations vary by jurisdiction. That's why we strongly encourage you to regularly consult with a local attorney as part of your risk management program. 

The information is accurate as of the date of publication; however, changes in law or regulation over time may affect the accuracy of the information presented.