John Doe v. Bennett, 2004 SCC 17 is a legal ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 which upheld the lower court's decision that the ecclesiastical corporation, Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. George’s, was vicariously liable

Vicarious liability

Vicarious liability is a form of strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency – respondeat superior – the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate, or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the "right, ability...

 (as well as directly liable) for sexual abuse by Father Bennett.

The Court concluded that the ecclesiastical corporation's secondary responsibility originates from the power and authority over parishioners that the Church gave to its priests. The facts satisfied the close connection test: "the evidence overwhelmingly satisfies the tests affirmed in Bazley, Jacobi and K.L.B. The relationship between the diocesan enterprise and Bennett was sufficiently close." It asserted that:
The Court declined to address the "difficult question of whether the Roman Catholic Church can be held liable in a case such as this."