Lawsuits Spark a ‘Family Feud’ in Christian Broadcasting Empire

For years, Gilbert Moegerle was James Dobson’s faithful sidekick, a kind of spiritual Ed McMahon to the Christian radio broadcaster’s Johnny Carson.

But these days, the only television show they resemble is “Family Feud.”

Moegerle contends that Dobson forced him to resign in 1987 from Focus on the Family, the Pomona-based Christian broadcasting and publishing empire, after Moegerle was divorced and announced that he intended to marry his former secretary.

Dobson feared “that my deteriorating (first) marriage would hurt his reputation and ministry, that his credibility would be damaged by the revelation that his very visible sidekick could not hold his own marriage together,” charged Moegerle, who has filed suit against his old boss and Focus on the Family in Pomona Superior Court. His new wife, Carolyn, who also claims that she was forced to resign from Focus on the Family, has filed a companion suit. Their suits accuse Dobson and Focus on the Family with firing the couple illegally, invasion of privacy and causing emotional distress.

Dobson, who says the Moegerles resigned voluntarily, nevertheless has acknowledged in a sworn declaration that the Moegerles’ continued employment “threatened to destroy the organization’s credibility, especially in an era replete with scandals involving religious figures.”

Today the lawsuits reach a crucial stage, as Judge Theodore Piatt will decide whether the Moegerles’ case should be dismissed or go to trial.

Meanwhile, the lawsuits have provided a fascinating glimpse into the business and philosophy of Focus on the Family, which in 13 years has grown into a media giant that reaches and influences millions of conservative Christians and is one of Pomona’s largest employers.

Gilbert Moegerle, 46, was working for a Chicago advertising agency specializing in Christian media in 1977 when he met Dobson, a psychologist who was already a successful author of books on marriage and parenting and was beginning a radio program. Dobson hired the agency, and before long Moegerle assumed the role of radio co-host, feeding Dobson questions about marriage and family life.

The program is heard by 1 million listeners daily on 1,400 radio stations in the United States and abroad, the organization said in its annual report.

The radio show’s success fueled the growth of Focus on the Family, which employs 700 workers at its headquarters in Pomona and took in nearly $55 million last year, officials of the nonprofit organization said. Focus on the Family publishes books and magazines, produces radio programs and films, sponsors basketball camps, and runs a Washington lobbying organization--the Family Research Council--that works on family issues.

Dobson, a psychologist whose credentials include 14 years as associate clinical professor of pediatrics at USC, drew widespread mention in the secular press in January, 1989, when he met with serial killer Ted Bundy before Bundy’s execution in Florida. After their videotaped conversation, Dobson said Bundy blamed his crimes on the availability of pornography.

In a recent interview, Dobson said he started the organization in a two-room office in Arcadia to try to help families. “I knew that almost every family was struggling one way or another, but I didn’t set out to build a ministry of this scope,” he said.

Nevertheless, the organization has grown to the point where it receives 10,000 letters a day and requires a large force of counselors and other workers to handle requests for publications and advice.

Dobson, who has become wealthy from royalties from 11 best-selling books, serves Focus on the Family without salary and pays $15,000 a month to help cover the cost of his daily half-hour radio program. The program features Dobson, 54, in folksy conversation with a co-host about family life and Christian values.

“I sit here talking out of my heart, and people feel like they know me,” he said. “I meet people on the street and they hug me and cry because their family is in trouble and somebody seems to understand and care. They know my dog; they know my wife; they know my kids. Because I share personal illustrations, they know where I went on vacation last summer. They know what books I’ve written and things I’ve shared. It’s very, very intimate.”

Dobson, who lives with his wife in Arcadia and has two grown children, insists that those who work at Focus on the Family share its values.

“All Focus on the Family employees must profess to be Christians,” he said in his court declaration. “They must affirm in writing the Focus on the Family statement of faith and must provide a written personal testimony of their faith.” Employees are required to attend daily devotions and participate in a monthly chapel service.

In his court declaration, Dobson said Focus on the Family was “formed for the express purpose of spreading and propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ.” But Moegerle, in his declaration, says he is amazed that Dobson would make that claim, because “in the 10 years we spent together, our day-to-day activities involved social, psychological and political issues, not primarily religious issues, and he would openly deny any reference to himself as a minister or evangelist, stating that he was a psychologist and that was the nature of his trade and business.”

Dobson and Moegerle do agree that their relationship became strained because of the problems that developed in Moegerle’s first marriage. Dobson said he sent the couple to the “best therapist I know” for counseling, but the marriage failed anyway. Because of his marital problems, Moegerle said, he left the radio program in 1985 and was reassigned to work on film production. Moegerle was divorced in 1986 and married the former Carolyn Alexander in 1987.

Dobson said Moegerle’s divorce and remarriage “created disturbing theological and institutional problems for Focus on the Family. Several biblical passages . . . decry divorce. As stated in Malachi 2:16, God ‘hates’ divorce. Further, it is believed generally within mainline Evangelical Christian circles that remarriage after a divorce constitutes a form of adultery in the eyes of God.”

He added: “In sum, divorce and remarriage, absent unfaithfulness, is biblically unacceptable.” And since there were no allegations of infidelity, Dobson said, “Gilbert’s divorce and remarriage was inconsistent with biblical teaching.”

It was also bad for the organization’s image, he said:

“Plaintiffs’ continued employment also threatened the loss of donor support, financial and otherwise. In short, the spiritual, social and economic viability of Focus on the Family as a religious institution was endangered by plaintiffs’ conduct.”

The couple, who took the hyphenated name of Alexander-Moegerle when they married, said they have been ostracized since they filed their lawsuits 19 months ago.

“We had a gentleman tell us shortly after we filed that to file a suit against Dobson is to commit professional suicide,” Moegerle said. Dobson is so highly esteemed by his followers that “it is impossible for them to imagine any wrongdoing, so the only thing they can conceive of is that Carolyn and I are malicious.”

The couple are asking for punitive damages and compensation for lost wages and benefits. Moegerle was earning about $60,000 a year, including a tax-free $30,000 annual housing allowance.

He said he has found only occasional employment in his field since leaving Focus on the Family and has enrolled at Cal State Fullerton with plans to obtain a master’s degree in communications so that he can become a teacher. His wife, who worked as a secretary and as children’s video coordinator at Focus on the Family, is studying horticulture at Cal Poly Pomona.

The dispute between the Moegerles and Dobson has become bitter. The couple have written letters to former co-workers giving their side of the dispute and Dobson has accused them of being vindictive and spreading distortions.

Nevertheless, the Moegerles say they continue to admire Dobson’s achievements.

“He’s done an awful lot of good,” Moegerle said. “He has provided a tremendous service to a lot of people. His forte is helping you with your marriage and helping you with your kids--that’s his strength.”