OMAHA (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star [Lincoln NE]
July 27, 2024
By Dan Crisler
The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling to dismiss defamation and other claims for a Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct against the Archdiocese of Omaha on Friday.
In a 22-page ruling, the state’s high court said the District Court for Cuming County was correct when it dismissed the claims brought by Rev. Andy Syring, who accused the archdiocese of having defamed him when the archdiocese named Syring on a 2018 list.
The published list named priests who had “substantiated claims of clergy sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a minor” lobbed against them.
Syring served in the archdiocese from 2011 to 2018. He resigned from his clergy position at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in West Point, which is about 70 miles northwest of Omaha and where he had been since 2016, after the archdiocese’s announcement.
According to the defamation lawsuit Syring filed against the archdiocese in 2020, he resigned because Archbishop George Lucas “left him no meaningful choice” after Syring was removed from the public ministry.
According to Syring’s lawsuit, law enforcement cleared the priest of any wrongdoing.
In addition to defamation, Syring alleged the archdiocese slandered him and damaged his economic standing. Syring also alleged the archdiocese inflicted emotional distress upon him.
The district court dismissed Syring’s defamation claim due to the claim having been made after the one-year statute of limitations had passed.
The court also dismissed Syring’s other claims due to legal limits on religious organizations as it related to church personnel decisions. The court also dismissed Syring’s claims of emotional distress due to a lack of medical evidence.
In the ruling, Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman wrote the Supreme Court saw no error in the district court’s ruling.
“We therefore affirm the judgment dismissing all claims,” Miller-Lerman wrote.
Syring had sought damages of more than $2 million.