In Padron v Watchtower a San Diego court sanctioned Watchtower $4,000 per day from April 2016 for refusing to produce the responses to its 14 March 1997 letter asking elders about members 'known to have been guilty of child molestation'; the Court of Appeal affirmed, describing Watchtower's 'abuse of the discovery process'.
Claim ID claim-safeguarding-padron-sanctions-1997-letterConcerns 9 November 2017Outcome
The organisation’s position or later explanation: Watchtower argued the documents were confidential and, later, that post-2001 documents were inaccessible; the court called the latter 'gamesmanship'.
9 November 2017 · Holding and disposition · California Courts (opinion text via FindLaw)
“$2,000 per day for every day Watchtower did not produce responsive documents and $2,000 per day for every day Watchtower did not search for responsive documents”
The San Diego Superior Court sanction ($4,000/day in total) imposed after Watchtower's counsel 'unequivocally informed' the court on 8 April 2016 that it would not comply with a 25 March 2016 order to produce all responses to the 14 March 1997 letter (redacted for victim and elder names). The Court of Appeal affirmed, describing Watchtower's conduct as 'abuse of the discovery process' and noting it had argued against production at least five times.
Provenance and verification note for California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One, Padron v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. (No. D070723)
Confidence note. Full opinion opened on FindLaw. The opinion does not state the total accrued; press reports of 'more than $2 million' are not confirmed here.
14 April 2016 · Holdings and disposition · California Courts (opinion text via FindLaw)
“known to have been guilty of child molestation”
The court's description of the 14 March 1997 letter whose responses the trial court had ordered produced. The trial court had struck Watchtower's answer for refusing to comply and entered a $13.5 million default judgment; the Court of Appeal upheld the document-production order but vacated the terminating sanction and default judgment because lesser sanctions should have been tried first, and vacated the order to depose Governing Body member Gerrit Lösch.
Provenance and verification note for California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One, Lopez v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. (No. D066388)
14 March 1997 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
“known to have been guilty of child molestation”
The phrase the California Court of Appeal used in Lopez (2016) when describing the March 14, 1997 letter and the documents elders sent to headquarters in response. The Padron (2017) court ordered production of all responses to this letter and upheld daily sanctions for non-compliance.
No online copy located.
Provenance and verification note for Letter to All Bodies of Elders, Letter to all bodies of elders, 14 March 1997 (requesting information on members 'known to have been guilty of child molestation')
Confidence note. The letter was not opened; its date and subject are taken from two appellate opinions that were opened (Lopez, Padron).
A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-safeguarding-padron-sanctions-1997-letter/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.