wfn.org | 'Frugal Gourmet' reaches settlement with seven plaintiffs

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 17, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

Jeff Smith, the celebrity chef known as "the Frugal Gourmet," has
reached a settlement with seven men who had accused him of sexually
molesting them.

The settlement was reached on July 2 in Tacoma, Wash., four days before
the case was to have gone to trial. 

Smith, 59, is an ordained United Methodist minister, but he has not been
under appointment by the bishop and cabinet of the church's Pacific
Northwest Annual (regional) Conference since he "voluntarily located" in
the area in 1973.

Both sides are bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss terms
of the settlement. However, it did not include an admission by Smith to
any of the alleged acts, according to the attorney for the plaintiffs.
No criminal charges were ever filed against Smith.

"My clients thought it was a satisfactory alternative to what they would
get in a trial," said F. Mike Shaffer, the Tacoma, Wash., attorney
representing the plaintiffs.

Smith, who has strongly denied the allegations, had no statement to make
about the resolution of the case, said his attorney, Ed Winskill, of
Tacoma.

"He's going on with his life," Winskill said.

A total of 18 to 22 men, including the plaintiffs, would have testified
that they had either been molested or had sex with Smith, Shaffer said.
"We thought we were going to win the trial."

Along with Smith, other defendants in the case included his wife, Patty,
and their business holdings, Frugal Gourmet Productions Inc., The Frugal
Gourmet Inc. and the Chaplain's Pantry, run by Frugal Gourmet Inc.

Six of the plaintiffs alleged that Smith sexually molested them while
they were his employees in the 1970s. The seventh accuser said he was
picked up as a hitchhiker and assaulted in 1992. All were in their teens
when the alleged assaults occurred, and most are in their 30s now.

The incidents followed a pattern of  alcohol consumption, physical
contact and sexual advances by Smith, Shaffer said.

Not all of the plaintiffs were pleased that the case was settled.

"Out of the seven young men I represented, there were at least a couple
(who) thought it was more important to tell their story to a jury than
to accept some kind of monetary settlement," Shaffer said.

Smith graduated with a degree in divinity from United Methodist-related
Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, N.J., in 1965. He was a pastor at
a number of small churches, including Aldersgate Methodist Church in
Tacoma from 1965 to 1966, and later worked as a chaplain for the
University of Puget Sound for six years. In 1972, he opened the
Chaplain's Pantry, embarking on a new career as a restaurateur and chef.
He went on to achieve success as host of "The Frugal Gourmet," the
highly rated cooking show on PBS, and became a best-selling author of
cookbooks.

In 1995, he hosted "The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast" for the
interfaith Odyssey Network, but the show was suspended when the claims
about sexual misconduct became known.

Shaffer said he used the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline to
question Smith during the deposition, making references to the book's
provisions about adultery and immoral conduct by an ordained minister.

Winskill would not comment on the deposition or any other aspect of the
case.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/