Calvary Chapel Pays Survivor $12 Million

Grady Howe (0:00)

Sing a simple song of love.

Julie Roys (0:03)

Imagine attending a church where this guy is a pastor or the school where he's the wrestling coach. Weak!

David Sugden (0:11)

Weak!

Julie Roys (0:13)

Weak!

David Sugden (0:16)

Did you forget what you got saved from?

Julie Roys (0:21)

Weak!

David Sugden (0:23)

Weak! How many alcoholics out here?

Julie Roys (0:27)

That's Jacob Joshua Harmon, a former pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and a former wrestling coach at the church affiliated school. A former teacher at that school says Harmon raped her. And as Roys Report's Daniel Silliman reported today, that woman just won a $12 million settlement from the church. She says senior church leaders, including former senior pastor Brian Roderson, ignored Harmon's violent and drug-addicted past leading to her assault. You'll hear all about it in my exclusive live interview with the survivors' lawyers coming up next.

Well, welcome to this live edition of the Roys Report. I'm Julie Roys. And breaking today is news of this $12 million settlement between a rape survivor and Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. This is the original Calvary Chapel Church that was founded by Chuck Smith in 1965

And the case involves the pastor who succeeded Smith, Brian Broderson, as well as other senior leaders at the church. And sadly, it involves a dynamic I report on far too often. A survivor comes forward with an allegation of abuse, but it involves someone well-liked and well-known at the church. And even though there are red flags waving literally everywhere, the leaders believe the abuser and gaslight the victim. But today, that survivor in this Calvary Chapel case is getting some justice for a change. And joining me to talk about that and explain the incredible details in this case are the survivors' lawyers. First, attorney David Sugden is a shareholder at Call and Jensen and a trial lawyer. So David, welcome. It's a pleasure to have you join me.

David Sugden (2:19)

Am I on mute?

Julie Roys (2:21)

No, you're on, David. Hi.

David Sugden (2:22)

Am I on? Julie, good to see you. Thanks for having me on.

Julie Roys (2:25)

Yes, thanks for joining me. And also joining me is Grady Howe, who's also a trial lawyer and an athlete who played Division I soccer at UCLA. So that's pretty cool. Welcome, Grady.

Grady Howe (2:37)

Thanks, Julie. Appreciate you having me.

Julie Roys (2:39)

Yeah. So this case is unusual in several ways. But one way is that you have a settlement where the settlement amount is not confidential. And obviously, we can talk about the details here.

How was it that you were able to get a settlement where, again, these are the terms of the settlement, that you can talk openly about these things?

David Sugden (3:03)

You know, Julie, we can talk about the amount of the settlement, but in terms of the negotiations as to how we got there, we can't talk about that. But in terms of where we are today, the case is resolved, and that's, we think, good news for all involved.

Julie Roys (3:21)

Yeah. But we can talk about the details and the facts of this case that came out, and the incredible warning signs that Calvary Chapel got, and sadly, seem to have ignored for years. And so we'll begin to dig into that. But another really unusual aspect of this story begins with you, Grady, as I understand, and it's how this case came to you. My understanding is the alleged rapist, this Jacob Harman, actually sued somebody, because he felt he was being libeled online. And so that backfired for him in a very major way. So would you describe what happened there and how the case came to you?

Grady Howe (4:04)

That's exactly right. Thanks, Julie.

Yeah, so pretty much after the first couple of weeks I started my practice, I had a local pro bono public service institution approach me with a repository of cases. And they said, hey, would you mind just choosing one? You know, sometimes the young lawyers, they might want to get their feet wet with the case.

We could really use your help on at least one of these. And I essentially just picked a name out of the hat.

And it so happened that this was the case I got. And it was actually pending in the bankruptcy court for the Central District of California. And procedurally, it's a little complicated, but it's worth understanding how it got there. Because Jake Harmon sued former family members and members of the church and high school for defamation. And there were statements on social media that they had posted to warn the community about who Jake was, because they had firsthand knowledge of some of the abuses that he had done to some of the kids, and of course, the client in my case, Felicia Zandi. And so, when they had posted that Instagram, in essence, Jake tracked them down and sued them in state court. So it ends up in bankruptcy court, because the family had actually filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. And the crux of what Jake was arguing was, you can't discharge this with a bankruptcy. This is a willful and malicious claim. And so it goes to bankruptcy court. That's when I pick it up, they're acting pro se, which means on their own without any lawyers. And the case goes to trial. And the core issue is, is the statement calling him a rapist defamatory? Or can we prevail as a defendant on the affirmative defense of truth? In order to do that, Felicia's Andy had to be brave and come forward and testify to her experience. And so she did that. And we were victorious at trial and prevailed on the affirmative defense of truth. And if you read the opinion, you'll see the judge says the statements calling Harmon a rapist are truthful and that the defendant prevails. And from there, Felicia learned about some of the notice the church had about Jake in the past, some of the documents you mentioned earlier, as well as others. So that's sort of what led to the underlying case we're talking about with the $12 million dollar settlement.