A “Complaint and Petition for Relief for Alienation of Affection” was filed May 15, 2018 in Rutherford County District Court, by Chad W. Cooper. This Complaint outlines various claims against the defendants: Jayne Caulder, David Caulder, Jane Whaley and Sam Whaley, Brooke and Kent Covington, Amy Mattos and the Word of Faith Fellowship (Inc.) (WOFF). The claims include accusations against the defendants that they “willfully, actively, wrongfully and intentionally interfered with the marital relationship” of Chad Cooper and Lauren (Caulder) Cooper.

The file number is -18 CVD 579. All of the defendants having been served, the deadline for answering this Complaint has been moved to July 24th. There has also been a motion filed by Josh Farmer representing WOFF seeking to move the case to Superior Court in light of the requested sum total of “monetary relief in excess of $4,000,000.”

What is “alienation of affection?”

It is obvious I am no legal expert and only repeat the results of research on the Internet. I am not offering any “legal opinions,” only general observations. Also, I will not retype the entire Complaint, but only draw out a few vital points.

“In North Carolina, you may sue an individual who has caused a married person to suffer the loss of affection of their spouse, so long as the marriage was peaceful and intact at the time of the affair.” (source )

My quick research reveals there are only a handful of states in the country that still allow this type of legal action. In North Carolina, there are “roughly 200 alienation of affection lawsuits filed each year.” (source)

Yes, this legal action is generally used in situations where one marriage partner has had an affair and the other marriage partner believes there was malicious intent on the part of the third party. Chad is not claiming Lauren had an affair with another man.

In #6 of the Complaint, he is claiming, “The Defendants, during the marriage of Plaintiff to Lauren Cooper, knew of inappropriate and lewd relations between Lauren Cooper and Defendant, Amy Mattos, (considering that both were married at the time). The Defendants collectively colluded to actively attempt to hide such occurrences from the Plaintiff and instructed Lauren Cooper to continue her relationship with Defendant, Amy Mattos. Plaintiff had to actively defy church leadership and instruction to finally find out about the conspiracy.”

Indeed, the information in #6 does not appear to be the main basis for this Complaint. Let’s continue.

“The Defendants …actively conspired and maliciously plotted to drive perceived doubt, mistrust, and lies about plaintiff to cause separation which ended in divorce.” (Complaint #7)

From the Complaint #8. “…Beginning sometime around the first of the year in 2016, the defendants suspected that Plaintiff and Lauren Cooper were showing more love for each other than for the church and thus took severe, unprovoked, malicious and criminal activity against the Plaintiff. After stealing passwords and criminally accessing private emails between Plaintiff and Lauren, they kept Lauren Cooper against her will at the home of Brooke and Kent Covington, where all the defendants conspired to cause the divorce of Plaintiff from his wife. … The threats culminated with the hysterical and unfounded profession that Plaintiff was indeed a demon…. Lauren secretly reached out to Plaintiff to inform him of these lies, threats, and malice, but the damage was ultimately done to her mentally. Plaintiff had to inform the pastor that her actions were both evil and illegal before he could be allowed to see his own wife, but his intervention was not soon enough. Even till present day, Lauren is still affected and wounded by these unspeakable and atrocious acts committed by the Defendants.”

This appears to be the determining sequence of events which Chad cited for the Complaint. He goes on to say the results of these actions by the Defendants caused “… severe mental distress to said minor child.” Yes, Chad and Lauren have a young child.

He claims the actions of the Defendants have “reduced the financial income to plaintiff by causing Plaintiff to have to care for two households.”

Chad summarizes his losses in these words, “(Plaintiff) suffered serious and grievous injuries including the loss of love and affection of Lauren Cooper, loss of consortium of Lauren Cooper, mental agony and anguish, humiliation, damage to his honor, destruction of his family, and wounded sensibilities. …”

In #15 under the heading “RELIEF REQUESTED”-

“WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff brings this action and demands judgment of from and against the Defendants in the sum of $1,877,800 in actual damages and $2,400,000 in punitive damages, together with reasonable attorney fees. And the Defendants shall be assessed all costs of this action.”

There are other parts to the Complaint which we may review at another time or which may be brought out, if indeed the case goes to trial.

From previous cases where WOFF is involved, I believe we can expect delays, delays and more delays; attempted depositions of individuals not related to this case and possibly a motion filed by Josh Farmer for immediate dismissal of WOFF, Inc from these proceedings. This has been Josh Farmer’s pattern to file strategic motions in the very beginning of cases with hopes for a favorable ruling for his client. In that regard, he is a “good attorney” defending his clients.

No doubt, this case is not the norm and it will be very interesting to see what develops. If there is any level of success by Chad in this action, it could open the door for additional similar complaints to follow from other ex-members. I offer this prediction after reading the Complaint and understanding the inner working dynamics of the WOFF subculture.

Have any other former members been treated in the same or similar ways as Chad outlines in this Complaint? For those ex-members who were inside during this time frame, did the events occur as outlined? Is it possible that the extreme loyalty of the leadership named in this Complaint blinded them to the true nature of their deeds? Would leadership view these alleged actions as showing Lauren and their child “the Love of God?” They were only “doing whatever it took to keep Lauren in the will of God.”

Would Chad open himself up to additional pressures and public review of his plight unless he fully believed there were serious and “malicious” acts committed? I have not discussed these questions with him. This case may cause changes in the dynamics of WOFF and its practices in the future.

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(Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 640.