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Abuse victim seeks $9 million from Diocese of Duluth
By Elizabeth Mohr
ST. PAUL — There’s no dispute that the Rev. James Vincent Fitzgerald sexually abused a Minnesota teen in 1978, according to opposing attorneys in a lawsuit filed by the victim.The question for a jury: Who supervised the priest when the abuse took place? The victim’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, said during his opening statement Wednesday that the Diocese of Duluth was charged with overseeing the priest while he worked in one of its parishes, where the abuse took place. The diocese’s attorney, Susan Gaertner — former Ramsey County attorney-turned-defense attorney — said that because Fitzgerald was an oblate priest, a member of a religious order, the leader of his order was in charge of his oversight, not the diocese where the order placed him. “Doe 30” filed his lawsuit in early 2014 in Ramsey County District Court against the Diocese of Duluth, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Diocese of New Ulm. The Duluth diocese is the sole remaining defendant; the oblates order settled with Doe 30 and the court dismissed the New Ulm diocese earlier this year. The lawsuit claims the diocese was negligent in supervising a priest within its boundaries, which led to the abuse. The diocese argues that it had no information about Fitzgerald or any other allegations against him until years after Doe 30 was abused. Fitzgerald, now deceased, was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1950 and belonged to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an order of missionaries. He was placed in various locations over his career, including Illinois, South Dakota (where he was also accused of abusing minors) and some Minnesota parishes. In the late 1970s, Fitzgerald participated in a clinical pastoral education program at a hospital in Willmar. While there, he worked in a New Ulm parish and spent time working in a Duluth parish, according to court filings. In 1978, he travelled to the St. Catherine Parish in Squaw Lake, Minn., part of the Diocese of Duluth. He brought Doe 30, then a teenager, with him for the two-week trip. That’s when the sexual abuse occurred. Anderson, representing Doe 30, now 52 years old, said during opening statements Wednesday that the bishop of the Diocese of Duluth was in charge of Fitzgerald’s supervision because the bishop had approved his assignment to the parish. “Every employer is required to exercise reasonable care in supervising its employees, especially when kids are in their care or under their control,” Anderson told the jury. “That’s the law.” He told the jury they’ll be asked to calculate monetary damages for Doe 30, “to fix what can be fixed” and “to make up for what can’t be fixed or helped.” He suggested $9 million. Gaertner told the jury they’ll be asked to consider the legal definition of employee in this case. Though Fitzgerald was doing work within the diocese, his assignment had been ordered by the provincial, or district leader of his order, she said. “Simply put, you’re going to have to decide at the end of this case who was responsible for what happened to (Doe 30),” Gaertner said to the jury. “I’ll ask you to decide that the oblates were responsible.” Jury selection began Monday and was completed just before opening remarks began Wednesday afternoon. Seven jurors were seated. Ramsey County Assistant Chief Judge John Guthmann is presiding. Doe 30’s lawsuit was filed under the Child Victims Act, a Minnesota law passed in 2013 that expanded the statute of limitations for claims of past sexual abuse, even if it occurred decades ago. The deadline to file lawsuits is May 2016. Attorneys for the plaintiff claim this is the first such suit to make it to trial, though that’s nearly impossible to confirm with certainty. Most cases are either dismissed or settled before they reach the trial stage, and any that were active against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have been rolled into the bankruptcy case.
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