Diocese, former priest want sexual relationship lawsuit dismissed

By Michael Kransz
MLive
August 05, 2017

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2017/08/catholic_diocese_former_priest.html

Denis Heames in 2005

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI -- Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw and an ousted priest want a lawsuit against both parties relating to a sexual relationship the priest had with a Central Michigan University student dismissed.

Motions, both filed in mid-July, claim the lawsuit is baseless on a number of grounds and that they should be awarded fees and costs associated with battling the suit.

The lawyer for the then-student and parishioner who filed the lawsuit, Megan Winans, has not yet responded to the motions. 

Winans brought the lawsuit against former-priest Denis Heames, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw and Saint Mary's University Parish in January of 2016, stating she should be awarded funds for a number of things suffered during and after her secret, intimate relationship with Heames.

Their relationship, according to depositions, lasted from late-2012 to early-2014 and, a year after it ended, saw Heames removed as parochial administrator from Saint Mary's University Parish, which serves Central Michigan University.

According to the filings, Winans was 22 and Heames was around 40 when the relationship began.

In the lawsuit, Winans is asking for damages related to negligent supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of trust, among other claims.

The lawsuit alleges Heames used a counseling relationship he established with Winans to initiate a sexual relationship with her. Once that began, Heames hired Winans as a "media intern" at the church, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges Heames "justified his sexual relationship (with Winans) by explaining it through religious and spiritual means."

"Heames continued to abuse his position by maintaining a sexual relationship with (Winans) for nearly two years, asking her to keep their relationship secret," the lawsuit states.

Key in the defenses of both Heames and the diocese is they argue depositions show Heames and Winans had a consensual, sexual relationship, and that any coercion via Heames' position as priest and Winans as parishioner is not recognized under state law, according to the filings.

The reason it's not recognized under state law, according to the filings, is that any matters of trust involving the diocese and Heames' position to garner sex involves matters of religion and that similar cases have been shot down.

"Even if ... (Winans) alleged her clergy/counselor, (Heames), pursued her, as an adult parishioner, and abused her ministerial trust and misusing his position as her pastor and counselor in order to con her into a sexual relationship to which she otherwise would not have engaged, she has no legitimate cause of action," members of Masud Labor Law Group, who represent the church, stated in the motion.

It is the second time lawyers for the diocese and the parish have asked for a dismissal of the suit. On April 26, an arbitrator, retired-judge Daniel Ryan, denied that dismissal, in part because several people, including other priests, who had "expressed concern" about Winans and Heames, had not been interviewed on the record.

In the current filing, lawyers for the diocese argue those interviews showed no one had questioned whether the relationship was sexual, hence the reason it wasn't reported up the chain, which is an argument against the negligent supervision claim.

In addition, the filing says Heames was acting outside the scope of his employment with the sexual relationship.

Lawyers for the diocese also said Winans has "unclean hands," as she didn't report the relationship until it was over. They argue she voided any legal recourse because of her complicity.

Winans' attorney is expected to file a formal response to these rebuttals next week.