An appeals court has thrown out Utahn James Huntsman’s fraud lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over millions of dollars in tithing.
In a unanimous ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said no reasonable juror could have concluded that the Utah-based faith misrepresented the source of funds it used to spend $1.4 billion on the building and development of City Creek Center, the church-owned mall and residential towers in downtown Salt Lake City.
Huntsman, while living in California, sued the church in 2021, alleging he was fraudulently misled by statements from church leaders, including then-President Gordon B. Hinckley, that no tithing would be used on commercial projects.
“The church had long explained that the sources of the reserve funds included tithing funds,” according to an opinion summary from the appellate court, “and Huntsman had not presented evidence that the church did anything other than what it said it would do.”
The court’s members also ruled that the church autonomy doctrine, protecting faiths from undue legal intrusion, “had no bearing in this case because nothing in the court’s analysis of Huntsman’s fraud claims delved into matters of church doctrine or policy,” the court summary says.
Individual judges on the panel differed on that point, with appellate Judges Daniel Bress agreeing there was no fraudulent misrepresentation on the church’s part.
But Bress also found “there was no way in which Huntsman here could prevail,” according to the summary, “without running headlong into basic First Amendment prohibitions on courts resolving ecclesiastical disputes.”
Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, who was among the 9th Circuit members who grilled Huntsman’s lawyers in oral arguments in September, also agreed with Friday’s decision. But he, too, found problems with Huntsman’s case on religious grounds.
“Because Huntsman’s claims involve court interference in matters of religious truth,” the court wrote in its summary, “the church autonomy doctrine bars reaching the merits of his claims.”
It was not immediately clear Friday morning if there was a legal path to appeal or if Huntsman would do so.
This story will be updated.
Huntsman tithing lawsuit opinion by The Salt Lake Tribune on Scribd
