Background

• Doe plaintiffs sued Vineyard Columbus and Robbins for assault, negligent hiring/retention, failure to supervise, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and related claims arising from a sexual relationship between the pastor and Jane Doe during counseling; case proceeded after a bankruptcy stay was lifted.
• Vineyard moved to stay the case and compel arbitration; Robbins’s bankruptcy automatically stayed proceedings.
• Trial court found no meeting of the minds and no agreement to arbitration, denying Vineyard’s motion.
• Appellees signed the membership application containing a “Statement of Practice,” but the associated Disciplinary and Dispute Resolution Process policy was not provided, read, or incorporated by reference into the application as it existed prior to 2012.
• Newcomer’s class attendees allegedly did not receive the policy and did not discuss or review the arbitration provisions; the pre-2012 booklet was unavailable for corroboration.
• Appellate court conducted de novo review and affirmed that appellees did not knowingly agree to the biblically-based arbitration process; judgment denying arbitration was affirmed.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Estate of Brewer v. Dowell & Jones, 2002-Ohio-3440 (8th Dist. 2002) (arb. clause enforcement requires clear agreement and incorporation)
• Council of Smaller Ents. v. Gates, McDonald & Co., 80 Ohio St.3d 661 (1998) (court must determine if parties agreed to arbitrate before addressing scope)
• Academy of Med. of Cincinnati v. Aetna Health, Inc., 2006-Ohio-657 (Ohio Supreme Court 2006) (arbitration depends on first finding a valid agreement to arbitrate)
• Williams v. Aetna Fin. Co., 83 Ohio St.3d 464 (1998) (presumption favoring arbitration when within scope of clause)
• Swayze v. The Huntington Invest. Co., 2005-Ohio-2519 (2nd Dist. 2005) (signed application with terms; issue turns on whether terms were provided)