Gonzalez vs. WMSCOG NJ-BER-L-1025-18 Articles - Examining the World Mission Society Church of God

Gonzalez v. WMSCOG NJ Case — BER-L-1025-18 The Complaint

admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 02:21:39 +0000

On December 22, 2017, former World Mission Society Church of God deacon, Raymond Gonzalez asked a New Jersey Court to rule that the non-disclosure he signed during his membership in the WMSCOG, be declared unenforceable. The non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is attached to the end of the complaint below. Click here for the decision in this case.

Gonzalez-Complaint

World Mission Society Church of God Appeal In NDA Case Denied

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 18:20:35 +0000

On February 24, 2022, the Appellate Court of New Jersey issued a ruling on an appeal that the World Mission Society Church of God filed after the Superior Court ruled against them in Gonzalez v. WMSCOG – NJ Case BER-L-1025-18. In that case, former member Raymond Gonzalez asked the Court to declare the non-disclosure agreement that he signed unenforceable, and ultimately prevailed against the WMSCOG. The Court found that the NDA is invalid, unenforceable and void for numerous reasons. The Superior Court’s decision and accompanying written opinion are available here.

Unsatisfied with the Superior Court’s ruling (referred to as trial court below), the World Mission Society Church of God filed and appeal. The Appellate Court denied the the World Mission Society Church of God’s appeal and concluded:

“Finally, we note that World Mission made numerous contentious arguments on this appeal. Many of those arguments contained mischaracterizations of the record, hyperbole, or exaggerations. To the extent that we have not addressed specific arguments raised by World Mission, it is because we deem them insufficient to merit discussion in a written opinion. See R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E). We note, in that regard, that World Mission focused its arguments on appeal on three orders (the orders entered on February 5, 2019, May 13, 2019, and February 20, 2020) but also argued that “practically every single determination” made by the trial court was an error. Having reviewed World Mission’s arguments, we discern no basis for reversing any order entered by the trial court.”

Judges Gilson, Gooden Brown and Gummer Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division

The complete opinion is available below.

REGULAR-OPINION-OPN-AFFIRMED

NJ Court Grants The World Mission Society Church Of God Only Partial Injunctive Relief

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:31:38 +0000

On February 20, 2020 granted the World Mission Society Church of God in New Jersey partial injunctive relief against Gonzalez. The Order prohibits Gonzalez from disseminating:

documents determined to be protected on the basis of the attorney-client privilege as identified in Appendix A
documents determined to be protected on the basis of the attorney-work product doctrine as identified in Appendix A
the e-mail addresses , phone numbers, home addresses of the members of WMSNJ.

The Court’s Order and accompanying Decision are available below.

022020-Order

NJ Court Decision Regarding The World Mission Society Church of God’s Documents

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:16:30 +0000

On February 12, 2020, the Court entered an Order in the Colón vs. WMSCOG et al. 6490-16, Colón vs. WMSCOG et al. 3007-13 and Gonzalez vs. WMSCOG 1025-18 cases. The Order addresses thousands of documents, approximately 7000 pages of material including audio recordings, produced in discovery that World Mission Society Church of God NJ argued were privileged and therefore should be withheld from Ms. Colón and barred from dissemination.

Judges Harz and Bishop-Thompson opined:

the WMSNJ’s motion to preclude disclosure of documents pursuant to the Church Autonomy doctrine is denied since the majority of the documents merely set forth references to scripture and the order of the church service.
page 7 of 69.

The Court’s Order and accompanying Decision are available below.

021220-Order

New Jersey Court Declares WMSCOG Non-Disclosure Agreement Invalid, Unenforceable & Void

admin — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 03:16:49 +0000

On May 13, 2019, New Jersey State Superior Court Judges Avis Bishop-Thompson and Rachelle Lea Harz ruled that a non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”), that the World Mission Society Church of God, A NJ Nonprofit Corporation (“WMSCOG”) asked its members to sign, is invalid, unenforceable and void. The original complaint filed by former member Raymond Gonzalez, alleges that the WMSCOG used the confidentiality agreement to prevent members from ever speaking out against the church if they decided to end their membership with the organization (Raymond Gonzalez v. World Mission Society Church of God, BERL-1025-18). The Court issued a comprehensive 52 page analysis of the NDA, its history, its impact other cases pending against the WMSCOG, and all of its deficiencies. In summary, the Court found that the NDA is invalid, unenforceable and void for the following reasons:

the definition of ‘Confidential Information’ as defined in the NDA is overbroad,
the NDA has an undefined expansive application,
the NDA is procedurally unconscionable,
the NDA lacks a remedies clause in event of breach,
the NDA lacks valid consideration,
the NDA is against public policy,
portions cannot be excised to make a valid NDA

(emphasis in original).

The complete opinion from the Court is available below. Click here for instructions on how to access the document on the NJ Courts website.

Gonzalez-v-wmscog-nda-void