S-23-0417 Andrew J. Syring (Appellant) v. The Archdiocese of Omaha (Appellee)
Appeal from the District Court for Cuming County, Judge Mark A. Johnson
Attorneys: Lyle Joseph Koenig (Koenig Law Firm for Appellant) and William N. Beerman and Patrick M. Flood (Pansing Hogan Ernst & Buser, LLP for Appellee)
Civil: Defamation and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Proceedings Below: Appellant filed a complaint against Appellee asserting defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference with a prospective employment opportunity, and the district court either dismissed or granted summary judgment in favor of the Appellee. On its own motion, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals to its docket.
Issues on appeal: Appellant makes the following assignments of error: 1) The district court erred in dismissing Father Syring’s libel claims on the ground that the statute of limitations had run; 2) The district court erred in dismissing Plaintiff’s claim for defamation (Fifth and Sixth Causes of Action) for Defendant’s republication of its original defamatory statement on October 6, 2020, based on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine; 3) The district court erred in dismissing Father Syring’s breach of fiduciary duty claim based on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine; and 4) The district court erred in dismissing Plaintiff’s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress for lack of a medical causation opinion.