Doe I v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, (NJ Super. Ct., Jan. 8, 2020) is a case in which plaintiff sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (PA) in a New Jersey court alleging that in the 1970's he was sexually abused by a now-deceased priest who was assigned to a Pennsylvania parish. The abuse, however, took place in New Jersey. The suit claims that the Archdiocese was negligent in hiring, supervising and investigating complaints against the priest. Apparently the suit was brought in New Jersey because the state had extended its statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, while Pennsylvania's statute of limitations would bar the lawsuit. The New Jersey trial court rejected the Archdiocese's claim that the suit should be dismissed either for lack of jurisdiction or on
forum non conveniens grounds. As to jurisdiction, the court said in part:
Here, the alleged conduct by the defendants’ agent ..., while in New Jersey ... caused serious injury – in the form of sexual abuse – to plaintiff. Once the abuse began, Brugger purposely transported plaintiff from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on two additional occasions to continue the abuse....
[P]laintiff is now, and was at all relevant times, a resident of Pennsylvania. Thus, plaintiff’s choice of forum in New Jersey is granted substantially less deference.... Additionally, the majority of potential witnesses are domiciled in Pennsylvania.... The Archdiocese’s principal office is located in ... Pennsylvania.... [However] the Archdiocese previously owned two properties in ... Atlantic County, New Jersey – the very county where the instant litigation pends....The New Jersey property ownership took place during the times relevant to this litigation, although no alleged abuse by Brugger occurred at either location....
Under this set of facts, it would not be a violation of defendants’ due process rights to subject them to the long-arm jurisdiction of the Courts of New Jersey, given their contacts with this State.....
Denying defendants'
forum non conveniens defense, the court said in part:
the alternate forum, Pennsylvania, is inadequate as there remains no remedy there for the plaintiff due to its strict statute of limitations.
