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	Priest's Lawsuit Dismissed Plaintiff Still Says Episcopal Bishop Targeted Him for Calling Attention to Abuse. By Renee K. Gadoua The Post-Standart August 24, 2007 http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/118794608960880.xml&coll=1 A judge has dismissed the final two claims in a $4.35 million lawsuit that accused Central New York's Episcopal bishop of punishing a priest for questioning the diocese's response to alleged sexual abuse by another priest in the 1970s. The Rev. David G. Bollinger, of Owego, Tioga County, filed the lawsuit in January 2006. The suit accused Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams of defamation, breach of fiduciary duty and wasting or misusing diocesan assets. In July 2006, state Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Tait dismissed five of the suit's seven claims. "These are non-secular matters that go to the internal workings of the church and are not readily determined based on entirely secular principles," Tait wrote last year. He let stand claims that the incident caused Bollinger emotional distress and damaged his relationship with his wife. The diocese sought dismissal of those claims, and they were dismissed July 27, said Paul J. Curtin, chancellor for the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, which is based in Syracuse. In December 2005 Adams restricted Bollinger from functioning as a priest, having contact with his parishioners or being on the church property. Last month, the restrictions were lifted after a procedural error in the church's Ecclesiastical Court case. Bollinger, who is retired but can minister as a priest, said the case's dismissal does not change his belief that he was targeted for drawing attention to previous clergy sex abuse. "I'm absolutely certain that happened," he said. In May 2006, the Rev. Ralph E. Johnson, a retired priest, resigned from the priesthood after a five-month investigation of allegations he sexually abused a boy in the 1970s while serving as rector of St. Paul's Church in Owego. Johnson's is one of four cases of clergy sexual misconduct the diocese has investigated since 1992. In the most recent case, J. Edward Putnam was suspended last month from acting as a priest for 20 years after admitting sexually abusing four adolescent boys while serving as rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Skaneateles from January 1986 to May 1993.
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