Court of Appeals of Washington September 16, 2002, No. 49309-4-I (S.H.C. v. Sheng-Yen Lu)

Cox, A.C.J.

— The First Amendment does not provide religious organizations with absolute immunity from liability for tortious conduct.1 If such liability is predicated on secular conduct and does not involve the interpretation of church doctrine or religious beliefs, there is no violation of the Constitution.2 Here, S.H.C. claims that the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Inc.