Court Refuses To Dismiss Most Claims Against Archdiocese In Abuse Case

In Noll v. Hartford Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp., 2008 Conn. Super. LEXIS 2661 (CT Super, Oct. 20, 2008), a Connecticut trial court refused to dismiss claims that the Hartford Catholic archdiocese was negligent in failing adequately to supervise, evaluate, and train a priest who abused plaintiff and failed to investigate reports of the priest's wrongful behavior. The court, analyzing prior case law, held that "the bulk of the plaintiff's claims of negligent and reckless institutional failure to appropriately deal with child sexual abuse will not inexorably entangle the court in a doctrinal dispute." However the court did strike from the complaint portions of two counts that specifically refer to religion-based obligations.