Christian Therapy Group Goes to Court : Rulings: Jury clears New Life Treatment Centers of one negligence claim. But a patient-therapist case is settled for $100,000.

A Christian therapy organization accused of negligence in a series of lawsuits alleging misconduct by its care providers has been cleared of any liability in one case and settled another for $100,000, according to court records and attorneys involved.

A jury found that New Life Treatment Centers--now called Minirth Meier New Life Clinics--was not negligent in the case of a 22-year-old patient who contended a mental health worker tried to develop an inappropriate relationship with her in 1993. The woman was undergoing treatment for major depression and bulimia in a Buena Park hospital.

Although the jury found the worker, Gregory Rundhaug, was negligent in seeking a “one-on-one” relationship with the patient, jurors determined his negligence caused her no harm, said C. Snyder Patin, an attorney representing New Life. He said there was no evidence Rundhaug’s intentions were sexual.

“We were absolutely vindicated,” Patin said at the conclusion of the trial last week. “The claim should never have been brought.”

The New Life program was based at Orange County Community Hospital in Buena Park, which also was cleared of any liability by the jury Friday. Though Rundhaug was employed by the hospital, jurors found he was not acting within the scope of his employment as a mental health aide.

The jury also rejected claims that a therapist acted inappropriately when he helped the patient to contact her father to discuss a dream that the father had molested her, Patin said.

Rundhaug, who is not a licensed therapist, was named as a defendant in four separate lawsuits last year claiming he tried to seduce or develop inappropriate relationships with clients seeking Christian therapy. He did not testify at last week’s trial; his whereabouts have been unknown to attorneys in the cases for more than a year.

Meanwhile, New Life has reached an out-of-court settlement in a fifth lawsuit filed by a Long Beach woman for $100,000, according to court records filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Norwalk.

In that case, New Life was accused of negligence in hiring a Christian therapist who in 1993 had sex with a client he met at the Buena Park hospital. She became pregnant, and the therapist, James Lisle, was sentenced to a year in jail for having sex with a patient.

The settlement, though filed in court, contained confidentiality clauses prohibiting attorneys in the case from discussing it. Patin, listed as New Life’s attorney in the settlement documents, denied knowing anything about the case.

Lisle acknowledged to state licensing officials last year that he had a history of mental illness and had sex with another client he treated more than 30 years ago in Ohio. New Life founder Steve Arterburn said last year that Lisle lied to the organization about his background.

Despite the settlement with New Life, the case went to trial this month against two other defendants--Lisle and Orange County Community Hospital. The jury ruled against Lisle and awarded the former patient $230,000, said Scott Schutzman, who represented the plaintiff.