The brother of wealthy Mormon businessman and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. has appealed summary judgement dismissal of his tithing lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
James Huntsman sued the Church last year alleging that it spent parishioner tithes on commercial real estate projects instead of on missionary work, temple construction, and charitable projects even though the Church donated $10 million to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to help black Americans, according to media reports.
But because Central District of California Judge Stephen Wilson could not find any evidence of fraudulent statements made by church officials about spending earnings as opposed to spending tithes on commercial projects, he granted the Church’s request for dismissal.
“The Church each year will not spend more than it receives in tithing,” said Rick Richmond, a Los Angeles based attorney who represented the Church in the trial court. “The Church as an institution practices what it preaches as to how individuals and families should providently manage their finances. The Church might spend less than it receives and then invest the difference in a reserve for the future and those investments for the future could take any form, just like any person who's investing their money for the future."
Huntsman’s arguments on appeal include the following.
Summary judgment was improper
"The judge’s ruling was exactly what the law requires, which is to determine how a reasonable juror would decide based on the evidence and the judge decided that no reasonable juror looking at those 120 pages of financial document and declarations could conclude tithing money was used for the City Creek project,” Richmond told the Southern California Record.
The Church’s 'truth' defense is unsupported by the evidence
“Mr. Huntsman and his lawyer received unredacted copies of the 120 pages of evidence and full declarations,” Richmond said. “They've seen everything with not one thing redacted. So, although Mr. Huntsman is correct that the church’s confidential and sensitive financial information was not made public, he is incorrect to the extent he is insinuating that he and his lawyer never saw the evidence because they surely did.”
The Church’s use of ‘earnings’ on invested tithing funds to develop the City Creek Mall would still be fraudulent
“The record shows that Mr. Huntsman grew up in Salt Lake City and he knew there were businesses like Deseret Book Company, Deseret Gym, and Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution," Richmond said. "He absolutely knew the church was invested in various business ventures. President Hinkley clearly said money would come from earnings on invested reserves and other commercial ventures. That was clearly disclosed. So, it’s not fraud.”
The lack of a specific affirmative misrepresentation is not fatal to Mr. Huntsman’s claim concerning beneficial life insurance.
“For any fraud claim, you can't just generically accuse someone of fraud, you have to identify specific statements," Richmond added. "Here, Mr. Huntsman never showed that the church had ever said anything about funding Beneficial Life or investing in it. So, there's no specific statement that he can point to and allege fraud.”