Editor’s note: The lawsuit represents only one side of the story.
Salt Lake City (ABC4) — Plaintiffs suing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over alleged abuse of tithes and misrepresentation of the church’s history have said they plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Utah district court dismissed the suit, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Tenth Circuit denied the case in August, and the plaintiffs filed for a retrial. The court dismissed this appeal, and the judgment of the Utah District Court stands.
But the plaintiffs’ attorney, Kay Burningham, previously indicated that they intend to take the case to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court hears only 1% of these cases.
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The lawsuit stems from a class action lawsuit filed by Laura Gaddy in 2019 that was later dismissed. in 2020 Gaddy filed another complaint, this time for a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) complaint. This claim was denied in part and granted in part because the church can misrepresent what it is using the tithe for.
in 2021 Gaddy, Leanne Harris, and Lyle Small filed another civil RICO lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, making essentially the same claims as Gaddy’s previous lawsuits.
First, they argued that the church misrepresented its history by teaching about the First Vision, how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, the locations of events in the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith’s personal history. This first claim was rejected on the basis of the autonomy of the church.
Second, they claimed that the church had committed fraud by misrepresenting how they would use the tithe payments. That claim was also dismissed because the court ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to show that the church had committed a “pattern of predicate acts,” a requirement of a RICO claim.
Other tithe claims
This is one of four lawsuits filed against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over tithing in recent years. The lawsuits came after David Nielson, a former senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors, the Church’s investment arm, acted as whistleblower and said the church had misused billions of dollars in tithesincluding financing the City Creek Center mall in downtown Salt Lake City.
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in 2019 James Huntsman, brother of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., sued the churchasking for the return of $5 million he had tithed as a member, alleging that the church had used the tithes for non-charitable purposes.
in 2023 in February the church agreed to pay the US Treasury 5 million.after the SEC raised concerns about the church’s investment reporting.
In November 2023, a group from current and former church members sued the church and Ensign Peak Advisors. They said they had donated a total of about $350,000 to the church over the years and that they had been led to believe that their donations would only be used for charity. In January of this year the church sought to have the lawsuit dismissed.
in 2024 January married couple in California also suing church over alleged misappropriation of tithe funds. They stated that they believed tithe funds would be used only for charitable and welfare purposes, building and maintaining temples, or missionary work. They said the church used their tithes to help fund the City Creek Center.
Derek Fox contributed to this report.
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