Gateway Church and its current elders have asked an appellate court to stop the civil defamation lawsuit filed by the woman who was sexually abused by the megachurch's founding pastor, Robert Morris , records show.

The pair of requests filed Friday in the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas asks the judges to halt discovery by Cindy Clemishire 's attorneys.

Clemishire and her father filed the suit in June , which claims the defendants knowingly defamed her by releasing false information. A news release sent at the time said the suit was seeking $1 million in damages.

Church doctrine cited

The defendants had argued that the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention should prevent the suit from moving forward. That doctrine gives churches broad latitude to run their own operations w

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