Jury says church must pay $4.75M

One of the area's biggest and best-known churches must pay $4.75 million over a church ski trip that left a then-teenager with severe injuries, a Hillsborough County jury has ordered.

Idlewild Baptist Church officials dispute the verdict, and the pastor of another large congregation worries the case could have "a chilling effect on everybody that is trying to work with young people."

The plaintiff in the Idlewild Baptist lawsuit was 14 when he went on the Lutz church's annual trip to Beech Mountain, N.C., in December 2003. He had never skied before, but his mother was assured he would receive instruction, said Damian Mallard, an attorney for the family.

Mallard said church organizers didn't require instruction before the teen hit the slopes. He became disoriented and skied down an advanced slope, crashing into another skier at about 55 mph.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents by the initials "J.J.," suffered fractures to his spine. The injuries caused nerve damage to his left leg and left him with a permanent limp. His left foot does not function, Mallard said, and the muscles in his left leg have atrophied.

After a seven-day trial, the jury Tuesday awarded $5 million to the plaintiff and his mother, Kim Jones. The panel found the church was 95 percent responsible for the accident and assigned the remaining responsibility to Jones. That means Idlewild must pay $4.75 million, Mallard said.

Mallard said his clients no longer are members of the church and didn't want to comment.

Brian McDougall, executive associate pastor of the 11,000-member Idlewild Baptist, said church officials are consulting with attorneys about what to do next.

"We do not agree with the verdict and know that important evidence was not heard by the jury," McDougall said. "Idlewild has always maintained the highest safety standards in all our church activities.

"We have had thousands of people travel safely with us on hundreds of trips without an issue of this nature," he said.

Pastors at other large Tampa Bay area congregations said their churches carry liability insurance and require trip participants to sign waivers.

Hyde Park United Methodist Church in South Tampa, which offers youth ministry programs in Central America, reviews its policies and coverage annually for trips and events, senior pastor Jim Harnish said.

The Idlewild Baptist case "reminds us of how important it is to do these things at the very best level we can," Harnish said.

"You do what normal people do to create a safe environment," said William Rice, senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater.

"Accidents still happen," he said. "If you are going skiing, there's a potential you can get hurt."

Rice is concerned about the lawsuit's chilling effect.

"It makes you afraid to do anything with kids," he said. "We will have to take a hard look before we take a ski trip in the future."