What remained of a seven-year-old lawsuit filed by a former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary student against former President Paige Patterson has been settled out of court.
A July 16 court filing in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas says the plaintiff, known only as Jane Roe, has dropped her case against Patterson and the seminary and “each party (will) bear their own costs, expenses and fees.”
Typically, such language implies a confidential out-of-court settlement was reached. However, there is no indication that has happened in this case, that originally was filed in 2019.
One of the points of initial curiosity in the case was whether or not Patterson could be covered the seminary’s insurance policy because at the time of the alleged defamation, he already had been fired by seminary trustees. One of the allegations was that others, still employed by the seminary at the time, acted on his instruction or at least with his approval.
But last December, Southwestern Seminary was dropped from the case, with Judge Sean D. Joran ruling the seminary cannot be held liable for the actions of employees who were working “against the interests” of the institution.
The original case — which included allegations by Roe that she was repeatedly sexually abused by a male student who had access to her campus apartment because he worked on the seminary maintenance crew — led to Patterson’s downfall as president in 2018 when he famously told other administrators he wanted to “break her down” in an interview in his office.
Roe alleges she had reported the abuse to the president’s office but no action was taken to help her.
Patterson’s supporters contended Roe was lying about being sexually assaulted and suggested anything that happened between the two students must have been consensual.
Various parts of the case had been thrown overboard already, and one part required a referral to the Texas Supreme Court for clarification.
What remained of the case involved a single document: the so-called “Loveless Letter.” Sent in June 2018 by donors Gary Loveless and Susan Oliver to the seminary’s board of trustees, the letter defended Patterson after his termination by seminary trustees.
The letter allegedly contained false claims that Roe had lied about her rape, engaged in consensual sexual acts in campus buildings and shared nude photos with her alleged attacker, who is now deceased. Roe alleged Patterson, although he did not sign the letter, “supplied” the defamatory information through Colter, his close aide.
Now, the July 16 memorandum puts the entire matter to rest — as far as the courts are concerned.
Related:
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