On April 25, 2011 Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which has issued directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, sued the break-away faction led since November 15, 2008 by former Bishop Jack Leo Iker. A copy of the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas, is here.
Among other things, the complaint seeks a declaration that, based on Judge Chupp’s amended summary judgment order signed February 8, 2011 and the Fort Worth Court of Appeals June 25, 2010 opinion that there can be only one Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, the Iker-led diocese affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone is not an insured under the directors’ and officers’ liability policy issued by the plaintiff. The complaint described the Iker faction as “a different entity formed by former clergy and members of (The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth)” and alleges that this entity “is not a Named Insured and cannot claim benefits of the Policy.” The complaint also seeks to halt a pending arbitration concerning the Iker-led diocese’s insurance claim for attorneys’ fees and defense costs relating to the litigation about the break-away.
The continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, still a diocese of The Episcopal Church, is not a party to this new action.