All legal claims against the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s General Conference and other defendants arising from the 1994 termination of a General Conference auditor have been either dismissed or voluntarily withdrawn.
In a lawsuit filed February 1995, former General Conference auditor David Dennis claimed wrongful termination, breach of contract, and defamation, naming as defendants the General Conference, a number of church leaders, and a “Jane Doe.”
On August 2 this year, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, granted Summary Judgment against Dennis, dismissing his claim of defamation against all church defendants. The court had earlier ruled in the church’s favor on Dennis’ claims of wrongful termination and breach of contract.
The final matter in the six-year-long legal dispute was resolved September 14, when Dennis voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice, all his claims against defendant “Jane Doe.”
“There was no financial settlement involved between any parties to this litigation,” says Thomas E. Wetmore, associate general counsel for the General Conference. “Mr. Dennis has voluntarily withdrawn all remaining claims made by him, including any rights of appeal from the judgments entered in favor of the other defendants.” This represents a final resolution to the Dennis lawsuit, explains Wetmore.
In December 1994, Dennis was dismissed from his position as director of the General Conference Auditing service and his ministerial credentials were revoked for conduct unbecoming an ordained minister of the Adventist Church.