University of Metaphysical Sciences Lawsuit: Cases, Ruling, and Costs

The University of Metaphysical Sciences lawsuit history consists of three federal cases filed by a single competitor, the International Metaphysical Ministry, between 2017 and 2025. All three ended without any court finding UMS liable and without UMS paying damages or a settlement. The last case was dismissed with prejudice on May 12, 2025, closing the litigation for good.¹

Who Sued UMS and Why

Every one of the three lawsuits was filed by International Metaphysical Ministry, Inc., a Sedona-based nonprofit that runs the University of Metaphysics and the University of Sedona, two distance-learning schools in the same online metaphysical-education niche as UMS.² No student, faculty member, or government agency ever sued the school; the disputes were entirely between two competing operators.³

IMM’s central theory was that UMS was bidding on IMM’s trade names as Google Ads keywords, causing UMS ads to appear when people searched for IMM’s schools. IMM framed that as trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, and in the earliest case added copyright infringement and various Arizona state-law claims.² The 2018 case also alleged that UMS created fake blog sites to harm IMM.⁴

What UMS Said in Response

UMS produced its actual Google Ads account records showing that IMM’s trade names sat on the account’s negative keywords list, which blocks those terms from triggering UMS ads at all. The school argued that its ad setup did the opposite of what IMM was alleging.⁵

The 2017 Arizona Case

IMM filed the first suit on December 28, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona against Matthias Schaefer, Wisdom of the Heart Church (doing business as UMS), and founder Christine Breese.⁶ IMM initially sought a temporary restraining order that included suspending the UMS website URL, then withdrew that request.⁵ On July 24, 2018, Judge John J. Tuchi transferred the case to the Northern District of California, noting that UMS’s employees, computers, and records were all in Arcata, California, and that only about 2.1% of its students were in Arizona. IMM did not oppose the transfer.² IMM’s attorneys referenced a motion for sanctions in that case, but the docket does not show any sanctions granted or any resulting monetary award.⁷

The 2018 Northern District of California Case

IMM filed a second case in 2018 in the Northern District of California, docketed as 4:18-cv-04524-SBA, repeating the trademark and copyright claims and adding the fake-blog allegation.⁴ UMS defeated IMM’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The case was dismissed with prejudice in 2019 after the two sides reached a mutual trademark-respect agreement. No money changed hands and no liability was found.³

The 2021 Case and Summary Judgment Ruling

IMM filed the third and final lawsuit on October 14, 2021, styled International Metaphysical Ministry, Inc. v. Wisdom of the Heart Church, Case No. 4:21-cv-08066-KAW, before Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore. It focused squarely on the Google Ads keyword theory.¹

On September 9, 2022 (Dkt. 74), the court denied IMM’s motion for summary judgment and granted portions of UMS’s cross-motion. The court found that IMM “failed to establish that Defendants bid on Plaintiff’s marks” because its evidence consisted of screenshots and speculation rather than Google billing records, technical logs, or expert analysis. The court also found that IMM had not offered admissible evidence of economic injury or actual consumer confusion, and ruled that UMS was entitled to summary judgment on those claims.⁸

The remaining matters continued for another two and a half years. On May 12, 2025, the case was dismissed with prejudice (Dkt. 216), which bars refiling of those claims.¹

What UMS Paid and What Defense Cost

None of the three cases went to trial. No court found UMS liable, and no damages or settlement money was paid in any of the three proceedings.⁹ Defense costs were real, though. Christine Breese and Judy Pasko ran a GoFundMe campaign for the school’s legal fund through Wisdom of the Heart Church, which had raised $13,316 of a $100,000 goal as of mid-2026.⁵ UMS says it remained financially stable enough to keep operating through the eight years of litigation.³

A Note on Accreditation

The lawsuits were between two competing schools and did not touch on UMS’s academic standing, which is a separate question a prospective student may be weighing. UMS is not accredited by any body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, it is registered with the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education under a religious exemption, and it tells students that its credits are unlikely to transfer to other institutions. UMS describes its degrees as religious credentials intended for spiritual counseling, ministry, and self-help work rather than secular licensing.¹⁰ As of May 2026, the BPPE’s public list of disciplinary actions contains no entries for UMS or Wisdom of the Heart Church.¹¹

1
CourtListener. International Metaphysical Ministry, Inc. v. Wisdom of the Heart Church Parties
2
GovInfo. International Metaphysical Ministry Incorporated v. Schaefer, Case No. 3:17-cv-08280
3
University of Metaphysical Sciences. LinkedIn: University of Metaphysical Sciences
4
Cislo & Thomas LLP. Peter S. Veregge, Esq.
5
GoFundMe. University of Metaphysical Sciences Legal Fund
6
CourtListener. International Metaphysical Ministry Incorporated v. Schaefer
7
PlainSite. International Metaphysical Ministry Incorporated et al v. Schaefer et al
8
Christine Breese Substack. UMS Lawsuit Update: All Claims Dismissed
9
Law Legal Voice. University of Metaphysical Sciences Lawsuit Update
10
University of Metaphysical Sciences. UMS Accreditation
11
California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. BPPE Disciplinary Actions