Friday, Feb 12, 2010 – 10am
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Also sued are defendants Church of Scientology International, Religious Technology Center and Does 1-20.

Alleged in the complaint is that David Miscavige controls the entire Scientology enterprise and is the chief perpetrator of the torts and violations of law including the crime of human trafficking.

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PART II

Excerpt:

“In France, the organisation was recently convicted of fraud and it is also facing charges in Belgium. Meanwhile, in the USA a number of former high-ranking Scientology executives have broken their silence about the organisation, talking to the St Petersburg Times in Florida where its international headquarters are located. The executives say they witnessed the head of the organisation, David Miscavige, assault staff members dozens of times and they say he also urged others to commit assault. The executives also claim the organisation has used blackmail and threats against former members and perceived critics of the organisation, and that the organisation has knowingly repeatedly obstructed justice. Claims have also been made that information provided to the organisation by members during what are known as auditing sessions, which are a crude hybrid of confession and counselling and for which the organisation claims so-called priest penitent privilege, was then used to blackmail and manipulate members.”

“What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs. What you believe does not mean you are not accountable for how you behave. The letters received by me which were written by former followers in Australia contain extensive allegations of crimes and abuses that are truly shocking—crimes against them and crimes they say they were coerced into committing. There are allegations of false imprisonment, coerced abortions, embezzlement of church funds, physical violence, intimidation, blackmail and the wide-spread and deliberate abuse of information obtained by the organisation. It is alleged that information about suspicious deaths and child abuse has been destroyed, and one follower has admitted he was coerced by the organisation into perjuring himself during investigations into the deaths of his two daughters.”

And now some senior insiders who have left the church are leveling disturbing accusations against the current leader, David Miscavige. Marty Rathbun, Amy Scobee, Bruce Hines and Mike Rinder each dedicated more than 20 years to the Church of Scientology, as members of the Sea Organization, or Sea Org, the equivalent of the church’s clergy. They tell co-anchor Martin Bashir they left in part because the 49-year-old leader, Miscavige, struck subordinates numerous times and encouraged others to do the same.

Operation Donkeypunch is a plan cooked up over on the Why We Protest activism forums.  Its goal is to make current Scientologists as well as the population at large aware of the allegations being made against David Miscavige and his leadership of the Scientology Organization.

The following files are hosted on marcab.ning.org:

• whoisdmfullsheet1.pdf
  A poster designed 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, with “Does the Leader of Your Church Assault His Staff?” as the title. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• whoisdmfullsheet2.jpg
  A no-nonsense poster for a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper that states “Scientology leader David Miscavige verbally and physically abuses his staff while spending their generous donations on fancy parties for movie stars”.
• whoisdmqs.pdf
  Quarter sheets of varying messages. Designed for an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, then cut twice into four pieces. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• book-insert.pdf
  Quarter sheets like above, but intended for book insertion at your local library. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

For maximum effectiveness, print these out not just on white paper but on sheets of differing colors.

He recently described the sensitive spots the Scientology Organization has and how the Organization reacts irrationally when these “buttons” are pushed.

There are few groups if any that spend so much effort into polishing their PR as the Church of Scientology. It’s meticulously created, varnished, polished, and nurtured. And the PR front is created both for the outside and for the public inside the church. It’s a piece art. And it has to be – to cover up the real scene. The more crazy the real scene, the more effort is put on the PR to cover it up. And PR is heavily used in defending itself. I bet the Dalai Lama doesn’t deem it necessary to spend anywhere near as much thought and action into PR. Because his intentions and results have their own legs to stand on. The Church of Scientology could have opted for the same – to focus on delivering good service to help people become more themselves and exercise their free will, be more happy and have more energy to live an exciting and fulfilling life. Instead the focus has become the glamour.

And then there is Money. The church is constantly running the errand of Mammon. It used to be fair exchange or better. The church used to deliver service for the money donated. Since 1984 with the formation of the International Association of Scientologists, there has been an ever increasing focus on “pure donation” – taking money for no service. It falls under the category of “Criminal exchange” defined by Hubbard in the policy letter titled “Exchange, Org Income And Staff Pay” (Finance series 36).

Combine these two buttons and you get the recent Freedom Magazine. Someone scratches the PR of David Miscavige, and public are immediately shaken for money and a new PR piece is sent to a million people to restore the precious facade.

PR and Money are the Achilles heels of the church. Keeping the light on the true scene will dissolve the PR. Internet is the is the ultimate tool in this regard. Pulling the money flow from underneath the church is like pulling cards out from the bottom of a house of cards. This is why it is important to make the OTs see the real scene going on in the church. They are the primary income.

I get new OTs every day that are joining the purpose of shedding light on the lies. The purpose is simple: To rid the church of human rights violations.

Geir is making an appeal to current Scientologists to help him with his goal. You can contact him through his website.

Motion to Dismiss

NB. The court will dismiss a claim if it cannot be successful, even if all the facts pleaded were proven at trial.

1. Illegal and Unfair Business Practices

Claims for all but the last month of Marc’s 15 years in the Sea Org are barred by the statute of limitations. However, Marc’s complaint pleads facts about Scientology’s own behaviour which may justify a finding by the court that Scientology are estopped from pleading the statute of limitations (ie. equitable estoppel). Marc’s claim not dismissed.

2. Minimum Wage and Overtime Claims

These claims are all time barred, as the limitation period is three years and expired early January 2008. However, the equitable estoppel claim might be successful. Marc’s claim not dismissed.

Quote:

Even though it seems Headley’s California Labor Code claims are time-barred, given the factual allegations, the Court cannot conclude that Headley’s equitable estoppel claim must fail.

3. Forced Labor - California Civil Code The California statute came into operation on 1 January 2006 and so does not apply to the period Marc worked for the Sea Org. Marc’s claim dismissed.

4. Forced Labor - California Common Law California law has recognised no common law tort in relation to forced labour. Marc’s claim dismissed.

5. Forced Labor - California Constitution The California Constitution prohibits involuntary servitude. The statutory limitation period is one or three years and has expired. However, the motion to dismiss is denied on the same basis as those above - equitable estoppel. Marc’s claim not dismissed.

6. The Federal Trafficking and Violence Protection Act Between 28 October 2000 and 23 December 2008, the TVPA had a limitation period of four years. Since, 23 December 2008, the limitation period is ten years. That means that claims that accrued from 23 December 2004 had their limitation period extended to ten years.

The time limit on those of Marc’s claims between 23 December 2004 and January 2005 is extended to ten years.

Marc’s claims concern events between 1996 and January 2005. What about the actions of the CoS before 23 December 2004? The court found that the allegations were analogous to a “hostile work environment” claim, meaning that they are part of a single continuing violation and the ten year limitation period applies to the entire claim.

Marc’s claim not dismissed.

This judgment did NOT address Marc’s claim for summary judgment.

You may download the entire judgement here (PDF)

Scientology moved to dismiss the complaints or strike most of the allegations. The Court issued its order in Marc’s case yesterday afternoon. A ruling is expected in Claire’s case soon.

The unfair business practice, minimum wage, and human trafficking claim under the federal statute survived the motion to dismiss. The court dismissed the human trafficking claim under california state law, and , in effect, denied the request for leave of court to amend the complaint to convert the state ‘representative action” into a federal class action.

I was not necessarily going to try to convert this to a class action but tried to keep the option open. Before getting in a dither about class actions, please consider that the statute of limitations may be running on numerous claims. The main reason I would file class action papers would be to toll the statute of limitations for the class of employees who left within the last 3-4 years.

The good news was that the court found that the 10 year statute of limitation on forced labor under federal law applied and had been met. The court made a preliminary finding that Marc could recover damages under the federal forced labor statute for his entire period of work.

I would not call this ‘epic” , but it is a necessary win. The lawyers in the case have moved on to discovery and Rule 26 compliance. Marc’s and Claire’s depositions are set for later this month, and we have a few moves in contemplation.

David Miscavige’s Scientology Organization will be proceeding to federal court to defend itself against the charges of unfair business practice, breaking minimum wage laws, and human trafficking.

UPDATE: Also from Van Sickle:

We have suggested that since David Miscavige and RTC are taking all of the credit for Scientology’s huge growth, they should be named as defendants in all cases and also sharing the blame for all of the laws broken and people hurt in the process. They have not agreed to that. It may be the subject of a motion soon. We have had several former high executives “volunteer” to help with that motion.

They are stepping forward — from Dallas and Denver, Portland, Las Vegas, Montana — talking about what happened, to them and their friends, during their years in the Church of Scientology.

Jackie Wolff wept as she recalled the chaotic night she was ordered to stand at a microphone in the mess hall and confess her “crimes” in front of 300 fellow workers, many jeering and heckling her.

Gary Morehead dredged up his recollection of Scientology leader David Miscavige punishing venerable church leaders by forcing them to live out of tents for days, wash with a garden hose and use an open latrine.

Steve Hall replayed his memory of a meeting when Miscavige grabbed the heads of two church executives and knocked them together. One came away with a bloody ear.

Mark Fisher remembered precisely what he told Miscavige after the punches stopped and Fisher touched his head, looked at his palm and saw blood.

These and other former Scientology staffers are talking now, inspired and emboldened by the raw revelations of four defectors from the church’s executive ranks who broke years of silence in stories published recently by the St. Petersburg Times.

You can read the entire article as well as view video extras at TampaBay.com.