Parish Held Financially Responsible for Volunteer Worker’s Crash

Contributed by Rosie Cisneros

Although not directly involved in the car crash at issue, one jury’s verdict has a Milwaukee Catholic parish paying $17 million to the 84-year-old quadriplegic caught in the accident. While volunteering for a parish group, the Legion of Mary at Christ King Parish, Margaret Morse crashed into 84-year-old Hjalmer Heikkinen, causing his quadriplegia. Heikkinne sued.

Faced with Morse’s insurance limit of $50,000, the Christ King Parish became financially responsible. The volunteering parish, the Legion of Mary in Wauwatosa is closely related to the Christ King Parish. As the jury publicly announced, the community outreach work between the two is “too intertwined” to be separated. But as Philip K. Howard, chairman of an organization named the Common Good, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “The notion of $15 million in pain and suffering to a person who’s nearing the end of life needs to be balanced against who’s paying for that. In effect, they’re making this elderly gentleman’s family rich at the expense of everyone in the parish.”

Critics of the decision worry about possible effects of the judgment if upheld. They point towards the organizational structure of the Catholic Church and other religious organizations as targets for lawsuits involving the liabilities of volunteers.