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An article popped up on my phone about a spate of lawsuits that ex-members have filed against the church. It’s behind a paywall, but you can read the title and summary below: The gist of the article is that members are claiming the church fraudulently claimed they don’t use tithing for non-humanitarian, charitable purposes. There was a whistle-blower who indicated the church diverted tithing funds to commercial projects. Several members are asking for their tithing back, with amounts ranging from $60,000 to over 5 million donated over different periods.
I have heard of these types of lawsuits periodically. To my understanding, this is fairly difficult lawsuit to win. The tithing given to the religious institution was considered a donation and laws in the United States generally give a wide berth to the inner workings of religious institutions (freedom of religion and all that). However, it is also true that very few religions operate the sort of financial empire that the LDS church does. Legally, this has no merit, as far as I can see – which is why the lawsuit was rejected by the US District Court.
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