Rabbi’s Slander Suit Against Cardinal Dismissed

The state Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a slander suit filed by Rabbi Avi Weiss against Roman Catholic Cardinal Jozef Glemp of Poland, saying Glemp was not properly served with court papers.

Glemp was served with the lawsuit in Seattle in 1993 on behalf of the rabbi, who claimed Glemp in 1989 falsely accused him of trying to kill nuns then living at Auschwitz.

Glemp was served with the documents as he ate breakfast at a Seattle church rectory. He was visiting Seattle and Tacoma at the time.

The high court noted that the processserver left the papers on a windowsill of the rectory after being denied entrance to serve Glemp.

The process-server left the papers on the sill after spotting Glemp through the window and shouting at him, “Jozef Glemp, Oficjaline dostarcham (official documents)! Jozef Glemp, you have been served!” the court noted.

Quoting from state law, the court said the papers were improperly served because they were given neither to Glemp nor to “someone of suitable age and discretion then in the residence.”

“Weiss contends the windowsill service substantially complies with the service statute. We disagree,” the court said in its unanimous opinion.

Weiss first tried to sue Glemp in the rabbi’s home state of New York. A federal judge there dismissed the action in 1992, ruling that papers had not been properly served because a translator was not present and Glemp did not understand what was happening.