By Ronald Derosa
The Patch
July 25, 2011
http://naugatuck.patch.com/articles/state-supreme-court-says-former-st-hedwig-principal-cant-sue-archdiocese
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A former principal at St. Hedwig School cannot sue the Archdiocese of Hartford on claims that she was wrongfully fired for not disciplining a student who alleged sexual remarks made by a priest in class, according to a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling made public Monday.
The high court overturned a Hartford Superior Court ruling, stating, according to previous cases, the state cannot interfere with a religious organization's internal matters.
The case involved Patricia Dayner, a principal at the former Naugatuck Catholic School, who filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Hartford and a former embattled pastor, the Rev. Stephen Bzdyra. Separately, Bzdyra has been on administrative leave from the St. Hedwig community, after being hit with a civil lawsuit in 2010 alleging he molested an alter server in the 1980s.
The ruling stated: "In an employment related action against a religious institution, even if it established that the plaintiff's primary duties render him a ministerially employee, Connecticut courts must consider whether adjudicating the particular claims and defenses in the case would require the court to intrude into a religious institution's exclusive right to decide matters pertaining to doctrine or its internal governance or organization."
Dayner resigned her position in 2005 after a confrontation Bzdyra over a claim that Dayner didn't "stick up" for Bzdyra following a student complaint in October 2003.
According to the high court's motion, an eighth-grade student and her mother approached Dayner with a complaint that Bzdyra used sexually explicit language while teaching a weekly religion course. When Dayner talked to Bzdyra about the complaint a year later, in November 2004, Bzdyra told Dayner the student that complained had "serious problems."
After stating he wouldn't teach the class anymore, Bzdyra then ordered Dayner to call the state Department of Children and Families and refer the student. Dayner refused, saying she did not have enough information to warrant referral.
She then said Bzdyra's demand was "simply retaliation against the student for exercising her right to make a complaint," the ruling stated.
Ultimately, Dayner's contract was not renewed for the 2005-06 year, and she filed the suit in Hartford court, which ended in 2009 when the Hartford court ruled in her favor. The case continued at the state Supreme Court level, when the ruling came down on Monday.
Attorney Henry Murray, Dayner's lawyer during the appeal process, said Dayner has no plans to appeal the case or to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"The (state) Supreme Court has spoken, and the case has been dismissed," Murray told Patch on Monday.
Dayner has moved on since her leaving St. Hedwig and from when the suit was first brought about, Murray said. He said she still lives in Naugatuck and still attends services at St. Hedwig. She now works part-time at a law firm and still does work with the church, but neither with education nor the archdiocese, Murray said.
"Pat's gone one with her life, she was a very well respected principal at St. Hedwig's and I think people really missed her," he said.
Murray said Dayner is happy she played some part in changing law in Connecticut. During the proceedings at the Supreme Court level, Murray and Dayner applied a U.S. District Court view that the ministerial exception is a two-fold point. The first is the court has to prove that there is a ministerial exception, but the second is it would depend on the case whether the arguments can proceed.
"The archdiocese had argued the moment you find someone a ministerial employee that's the end of the inquiry," Murray said.
While the Connecticut Supreme Court adopted that two-fold view — essentially making it law in Connecticut — it ultimately sided with the archdiocese on the second point, Murray said.
"They said they believed it would involve matters of church policy," he said.
Bzdyra is facing civil suits alleging sexual assault from a former alter boy at St. Augustine Church in Seymour. Bzdyra remains on administrative leave, which he was put on in 2010, according to the law firm Statton & Faxon.
Dayner could not be reached for comment.
St. Hedwig School was merged with St. Francis School, effective July 1 of this year. The two schools reportedly suffered low enrollment and were losing money. The Archdiocese of Hartford agreed to merge the schools to maintain Catholic education in the borough.
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