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	Rabbi Bramly Sues Temple Beth Sholom Jewish News of Greater Phoenix May 27, 2011 http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?110527+bramly Rabbi Bryan Bramly and his wife, Laura, have filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from his 2011 termination from Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley. The suit, pending in Maricopa County Superior Court, seeks damages from the temple, its board members, officers and outside counsel. Among other things, Bramly alleges that temple board members conspired to "demonize" him. The defendants are seeking from the court an extension of time to respond to the allegations. The 56-page complaint, filed on the Bramlys' behalf by their attorney, Richard Thomas of Thomas Schern Richardson PLLC in Mesa, alleges that the temple board members and the synagogue's counsel, attorney David Selden of the Cavanagh Law Firm in Phoenix, had defamed him in the wake of his March 23, 2010 arrest on charges that, 10 years earlier, he had raped and sexually abused a 7-year-old girl when he and his family lived in New York. On April 27, 2010, then-temple President Joel Munter notified Bramly that he was being put on administrative leave while the case was pending. On Sept. 25, 2010, the criminal charges were dismissed. Bramly's complaint alleges that, after his arrest, the board "immediately began to concoct a 'story' it could use to get rid of (him)" and that to dismiss him the board "knew it would have to manufacture evidence to bring that about." The board could unilaterally terminate his contract only for specific reasons - such as his disability, loss of rabbinical status, immigration problems or his death - or for good cause, which covers various forms of misconduct. The Bramlys are seeking "direct and consequential damages," punitive damages, court costs and attorneys' fees, and "any other relief justified under the circumstances of this case." They ask that damage amounts be determined during a trial. In their motion for an extension, the defendants maintain that they need more time to respond because the group is large, including 15 current or former board members, their spouses, the synagogue and the lawyer and law firm representing the synagogue in "arbitration proceedings that are currently pending pursuant to the Dispute Resolution Rules of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism," with which the Chandler congregation is affiliated. The defendants' motion says they plan to file a motion that the case is subject to arbitration, adding that the congregation voted April 10, 2011, to terminate Bramly's contract for good cause by a vote of 98 in favor, 18 opposed and two abstentions. The motion also maintains that most of the defendants are volunteer board members protected by federal and state statute. The motion asks the court to recognize that Bramly filed the suit "to try to start a second proceeding about disputes that are already subject to a pending arbitration." Bramly started at the temple in August 2006, having been ordained earlier that year at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. In 2008, he signed a six-year contract with the synagogue that would have expired on June 30, 2014.
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