Former pastor, Batavia church settle competing lawsuits
Competing lawsuits brought by a former pastor of a Batavia church and members of the congregation over monetary disputes in 2016 have been settled and dismissed.
Rev. Dernard Newell sought $90,000 in damages and back pay in a breach of contract suit against the Logan Street Baptist church, and received a $1,000 in a settlement that does not allow him to refile the lawsuit in the future, according to Kane County court records.
Newell's attorney, Ronald Nolen, did not return phone messages. Thomas Scherschel, an attorney representing the church, declined to comment.
The dispute boiled over in May 2016 when Newell, who was named pastor in November 2008, and church treasurer Shirley Terrell, filed lawsuits against each other.
Newell's lawsuit argued he discovered in April 2016 that Terrell wrote her son a $750 payroll check in 2014 when he didn't do any work for the church, according to court records, and that Newell was the only person who could hire people. Newell also filed a breach of contract lawsuit, arguing the church failed to pay him some $90,000 and enroll him in a health plan based on a Sept. 25, 2015 "written settlement agreement."
Terrell's lawsuit argued that 44 of the church's estimated 100 members authorized a complaint against Newell for his "harmful actions," that Newell changed the locks on the church's finance office, removed money from Sunday church collections and put it into an unspecified account, worked to "fire" a church trustee and another member, and issued himself a paycheck that was $500 in excess of what he normally was paid.
No one was charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
Newell was relieved of his pastoral duties in summer 2016 after a vote by church members.
Kane County Judge David Akemann accepted the settlements and dismissed the lawsuits "with prejudice," meaning they cannot be refiled.