St. Brendan High School, Inc. v. Neff
A Catholic high school expelled a student after her parents sued the school for a personal injury; the parents added counts for breach of the enrollment agreement and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The school and Archdiocese sought a writ of prohibition arguing the ecclesiastical abstention (church autonomy) doctrine deprived the circuit court of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Third District denied the petition, holding the claims fell on the secular/contractual side of the line because resolving them did not require adjudicating religious doctrine.
Key facts
- St. Brendan High School, Inc. and the Archdiocese sought a writ of prohibition to prevent the circuit court from exercising jurisdiction over claims brought by parents after the school expelled their student.
- Parents sued the school for personal injury and added counts for breach of the enrollment agreement and intentional infliction of emotional distress following their child's expulsion.
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Why it matters
The opinion gives Florida practitioners a concrete application of the ecclesiastical abstention/church autonomy doctrine outside the employment context, confirming that contract-based claims against religious schools… — full analysis with a trial
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