LifeWay Sues Former President Thom Rainer Over Noncompete Clause

LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, has sued its former president and CEO, Thom Rainer, accusing him of violating a noncompete clause in his contract. LifeWay filed the suit in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Monday.

Rainer announced his plan to retire as president and CEO in 2018 and still serves as chief advisory officer for LifeWay. Under a transition agreement, he was prohibited from working with a competitor for 12 months after his retirement, according to LifeWay’s claim in the suit. The agreement, which Rainer signed in 2018, also provided that he would receive the same salary he had earned as president, plus a car he could keep after his term as chief advisory officer ends on Oct. 31.

The suit alleges that in April, Rainer and Tyndale, a publisher of Bibles and other Christian books, reached “a multi-book, multiyear agreement” to publish Rainer’s books. LifeWay says that agreement violates the transition agreement. Tyndale senior vice president and publisher Ron Beers was quoted in a news release saying that the company is “ecstatic about our long-term partnership with Thom Rainer and Church Answers.” Rainer runs Church Answers, a business intended to help church leaders with “resources, experts and community.” A lifelong Southern Baptist and Alabama native, Rainer received his Master of Divinity and a doctorate from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rainer said he was sad to hear of the lawsuit. He said he received a written and amicable release from publishing with LifeWay on Oct. 1, 2019. In an email, he said he had heard from a LifeWay representative about the concern only once, on Sept. 8, 2020, when LifeWay’s counsel asked for an explanation of his relationship with another publisher. He said he responded the same day, requested a meeting with the board officers, and “assumed all was well” until the lawsuit was filed.

LifeWay claims that Rainer’s agreement with Tyndale gives the publisher “a significant competitive advantage.” The lawsuit states that “it is inevitable that he will disclose to Tyndale confidential information about LifeWay’s products, processes and services.” In an email to trustees, LifeWay Board Chairman Todd Fannin wrote that board officers had requested a written explanation from Rainer “on several occasions to resolve this issue, but have not received any substantive answer.” The suit seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial and an injunction to stop Rainer and Tyndale from continuing their partnership.

Some members of LifeWay’s board of trustees have asked that the legal action be withdrawn. Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, wrote to the board that he was disappointed the full board had not been consulted before the suit was filed, and he said he believed better options were available for resolving the dispute.

In an update, Fannin wrote to the board on Wednesday, Sept. 30, that LifeWay and Rainer were seeking to resolve their differences without litigation. He said the trustee executive committee had met that day and acknowledged “numerous public misstatements and inaccuracies surrounding this matter,” adding that the committee hoped the dispute could be resolved “quickly and amicably.” Both parties were exploring “an agreed upon resolution of the differences.” To allow more time for discussions, the executive committee postponed that afternoon’s trustee meeting, and it asked trustees and all Southern Baptists to join in “a season of prayer.”

Source: Read the original report