Connor v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia

OPINION

Chief Justice CASTILLE.

The single issue presented in the instant case is whether the civil courts of this Commonwealth have subject-matter jurisdiction over a tort suit alleging defamation and negligent infliction of emotional distress arising out of a parochial school’s expulsion of a student for allegedly bringing a weapon to school, and the school’s communication of the expulsion to the school community. Citing the long-standing common-law precept known as the deference rule, according to which civil courts decline to exercise jurisdiction over cases that would require them to…