Judge Rules That 'Discovery' Is Allowed In David Sills Lawsuit Against SBC

United States magistrate judge Jeffery Frensley has ruled that former SBTS professor David Sill’s lawsuit against the SBC does not “patently lack merit” and therefore Discovery may proceed, much to the chagrin of SBC lawyers who sought to argue otherwise.

Six months ago, former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills filed a lawsuit against the SBC and several other high-profile personalities, thirteen in all, including current SBC President Bart Barber, former president Ed Litton, Albert Mohler, Jennifer Lyell, Guidepost Solutions, and others. Sills alleged conspiracy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress after they and Guidepost Solutions branded him as a sexual predator.

Years ago, Sills admitted to having an inappropriate and sexual relationship with a woman named Jennifer Lyell, which quickly became the face of the #churchtoo movement within the SBC. Sills denied abusing, grooming, or forcing himself upon her in any way. He claims that their encounters were completely consensual and did not include intercourse (she, too, has admitted the latter) and intended to make many Southern Baptists pay for any suggestion to the contrary:

Sills complaints are:

Plaintiffs file this complaint against Defendants alleging defamation, conspiracy,
intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence concerning untrue claims of sexual
abuse declared by Defendant Jennifer Lyell, and, thereafter repeated and published by remaining
Defendants, as well as untrue claims that Mrs. Sills aided, abetted, facilitated, or otherwise enabled
the said sexual abuse.
Plaintiff Sills did not, at any time, sexually abuse Defendant Lyell.
Plaintiff Sills did not ever force himself upon Defendant Lyell.
Plaintiff Sills never used violence against Defendant Lyell and never threatened to
use violence against Defendant Lyell, or anyone else.
Importantly, Plaintiff Sills did not engage in sexual intercourse with Defendant
Lyell, at any time, whatsoever.
At all relevant times, Defendant Lyell was well above the age of consent (i.e., 26
years of age) when she met Plaintiff Sills. Defendant Lyell initiated and aggressively cultivated
and maintained a personal and emotionally intimate relationship with Plaintiff Sills.
While as an acquisitions editor for Moody Publishers in Illinois and later as a senior
publishing executive for Defendant Lifeway in Tennessee, Defendant Lyell would drive several
hundred miles and many hours just to see Plaintiff Sills and his family.
Plaintiff Sills ended the relationship with Defendant Lyell who nevertheless
persisted in her pursuit of Plaintiff Sills and undertook efforts to reach him through his family.
Notably, Plaintiff Sills never denied that an inappropriate relationship took place,
and, consequently, he rightly resigned from positions within the Southern Baptist Convention
(“SBC”).
When it was revealed that the relationship was consensual, however, Defendant
Lyell did not accept the reproach from SBC members despite its truth. Instead, Defendant Lyell,
relying on her expertise as an accomplished writer and executive in the fields of advertising and
publishing within the SBC, a lucrative and powerful position, constructed a false narrative against
Plaintiffs at the height of the nationwide awareness of the SBC scandals.
Defendant Lyell worked frantically to restore her reputation and preserve her
powerful position of doling out lucrative book deals, while affirmatively and skillfully dismantling
the reputations, careers, and family life of Plaintiffs.
The SBC Defendants were at the same time confronted with and trying to manage
a decades old scandal within the SBC concerning actual predators harming innocent victims, many
of whom were children. Rather than seek the truth, however, Defendants repeated and circulated
the false statements made by Defendant Lyell about Plaintiff Sills, causing him to be cast out as a
toxic pariah. After various mischaracterizations, misstatements, and contrived investigations by
Defendants, Plaintiffs have been wrongfully and untruthfully labelled as criminals and shunned by
the SBC and every other religious organization with which Plaintiff Sills has tried to associate.
As a result of the Defendants’ acts and omissions, Plaintiffs have suffered
significant reputational harm, emotional distress, physical pain, and financial loss.

While this is a setback for SBC lawyers, they are still seeking to have the entire case dismissed, something @SBClitigation suggests may be complicated by this ruling.

It’s also tough news for SBC President Bart Barber, who previously defended Lyell’s sexual abuse at the hands of Sills, and then bristled at the suggestion that this wasn’t an open and shut case.

With the news that this lawsuit will not be quickly dismissed on account of having no merit, Megan Basham pointed out:

Backround:

Several years ago, Lyell, then a Vice-President at Lifeway Christian Resources, admitted to being involved in a sexual relationship with David Sills for over a decade. She claimed that it resulted from him ‘grooming’ her while enrolled in a missions class at the seminary in 2004 when she was 26 years old, ending 12 years later when she was 38 and having long moved on. She says that he “sexually acted” against her but never provided details or offered what the grooming looked like throughout their relationship, particularly when they were away for months. Once their affair was revealed, however, it resulted in his swift termination and public disgrace.

A year later, she would seemingly walk back any suggestion that she was guilty of any sin for the relationship, explaining in an update that just because she was ‘compliant,’ it did not mean their relationship was ‘consensual.’ As her understanding of her role in the whole affair continued to evolve, she also appeared to dispel the notion that there was any sin on her part for which she ought to apologize, supposing that she was and remains a complete, guiltless victim in every sense of the word, sharing the same culpability of a 4-year-old being, molested by her step-father.

Everyone agreed with her. The SBC Committee ultimately defended her victimhood. The Sexual Abuse Task Force dedicated approximately 35 of its 288 pages to Lyell’s story and the circumstances surrounding it, repeatedly castigating Sills not as an “alleged abuser” but a definite, for sure, unequivocal “abuser” while framing the 12 years together as one long incident of “nonconsensual sexual abuse” between adults.

The SBC Executive Committee, in a rare move, also issued a personal apology to Lyell for failing to “adequately listen, protect and care” for her after she came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by her professor, as well as acknowledged the “unintentional harm” they caused her by not correctly reporting her case and framing what happened to her in a blameworthy and distressing manner, resulting in a confidential monetary settlement to Lyell of $1,500,000.