By Andrew Denney, From New York Law Journal

A mentally ill man who lost his leg after members of a Korean church tied him down with duct tape so they could pray over him can move forward with his lawsuit over the “religious healing,” a federal judge has ruled.

Eastern District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto rejected arguments that her court lacks jurisdiction over the South Korea-based Grace Road Church, finding that the church and its founder, Ok-Joo Shin, are liable for the actions of its members.

Matsumoto also found that, given Suengick Chung’s diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and anxiety disorder, his claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress should not be subject to a one-year statute of limitations, as the defendants contend.

According to court papers, in 2012, Shin and other members of her church—including Chung’s sister, Myung Hee Chung—came to the United States to establish a subsidiary church in New York.

Chung, a 30-year-old Connecticut resident, claims that when his sister arrived in the U.S., she was directed by the church’s founder to “invite and convince” Chung to live at the church. Shin ordered this as part of a plan to treat Chung’s psychosis through faith healing and cease his use of prescription drugs, the suit alleges.

Grace Road members forcibly withheld Chung’s medication, which exacerbated his psychotic symptoms, and Shin performed religious services and sermons in an effort to cure him.

During his time there, Chung experienced hallucinations and suicidal thoughts; he also self-mutilated and starved himself.

On Sept. 25, 2012, Chung experienced a psychotic episode and left the church, which was located on Parsons Boulevard in Queens at the time, and began walking aimlessly through Queens.

Shin was able to track Chung down and brought him back to the church. He was completely cut off from his medication and, on Oct. 10, 2012, church members duct-taped Chung’s wrists, ankles and knees to a chair or bed and “put a sock in his mouth to restrain his screams at night,” Chung alleges.

During this time, Chung complained of severe pain in his right leg and church members noticed a discoloration on the leg. The restraint had constricted blood flow to his right leg and gangrene had developed there.

On Oct. 12, 2012, members took him to a dermatologist, who ordered the members to take him to New York Hospital in Queens. Chung underwent emergency surgery to remove his right leg from above his knee.

Several church members were arrested and sentenced to prison for their actions related to the loss of Chung’s leg. Among them was his sister, who was convicted of reckless endangerment in 2013 and sentenced to almost a year in jail, according to media reports.

In November 2013, Chung filed for damages in federal court in Connecticut, and the case was transferred to New York. He claims the loss of his leg has worsened his psychotic symptoms, requiring him to be institutionalized, and that he also suffered trauma, hypertension, sepsis and injuries to his wrists and mouth.

In 2014, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the New York branch of the church should be excused from the suit because it was not incorporated until May 2013, or about seven months after Chung’s leg was amputated. The defendants also argued that Matsumoto lacked personal jurisdiction over the church and that several of Chung’s claims were time-barred by a one-year statute of limitations.

Ruling on March 14 on the motion to dismiss, Matsumoto wrote in Chung v. Grace Road Church, 14-cv-7187, that she agreed with the defendants’ argument that the New York branch of the church should be dismissed from Chung’s suit.

But she said that New York Civil Practice Law and Rules §302(a)(2), the state’s “long-arm statute,” provides that she can have jurisdiction over an entity that “commits a tortious act within the state, except as to a cause of action for defamation of character arising from the act.”

With respect to the defendants’ argument that Chung’s claims are time-barred, Matsumoto said that, under CPLR §208, Chung’s claims are subject to an “insanity toll,” which applies to “individuals who are unable to protect their legal rights because of an overall inability to function in society,” and extends the time frame to file suit to at least three years.

Matsumoto also found for Chung’s argument that the church and its founder are liable for the actions of church members under the state’s common law doctrine of respondeat superior, under which an employer “may be held liable for the tortious acts of an employee committed within the scope of his employment” (see Abdelhamid v. Altria Grp., Inc., 515 F. Supp. 2d 384, 394 [SDNY 2007]).

The parties in the case disagree as to whether the actions of Chung’s sister were within the scope of her employment or if they were motivated by personal reasons.

Citing the Eastern District’s 1990 decision in Amendolare v. Schenkers Int’l Forwarders, Inc., 747 F. Supp. 162, 169, Matsumoto said that, although an agent might have a “mixed personal and professional” motive for performing a certain act, the employer may still be held liable for the act.

Sung-Ho Hwang, a New Haven, Connecticut solo attorney, is the appointed conservator of Chung’s estate.

In an interview, Hwang said that while he disagreed with Matsomoto’s decision to dismiss the New York branch of the church, the decision was “on point.” He said that his client has demanded $6 million for his claims in court papers, but “it’s really hard to put a concrete dollar figure” on the suffering Chung endured.

Chung is also represented by Marisa Bellair and Steven Errante, partners at Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante in New Haven, and associate Daniel Scholfield; and Queens solo attorney Jonathan Silver.

Shin and the church are represented by Ross & Asmar partner Steven Ross and associate Eric Dawson.

Ross said in an interview that his clients have yet to decide if they will appeal Matsumoto’s decision.

“It’s a pretty fresh decision,” Ross said. “We’re looking at some of the cases and really analyzing her decision.”

IMAGES:

The Eastern District Courthouse in Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn NYLJ/Rick Kopstein

Judge Matsumoto NYLJ/Rick Kopstein

For more on this story go to: http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202752689232/Man-Injured-in-Church-Healing-Can-Proceed-With-Suit#ixzz43ejco5Iu