human trafficking « Who Is David Miscavige?

Posts Tagged ‘human trafficking’

No Kids Allowed

The St. Petersberg Times continues its investigation into David Miscavige and how he runs the Church of Scientology, and how the change of Sea Org policy in 1986 has resulted in an epidemic of coerced abortions within the order.

The depositions were taken in a federal lawsuit [Claire] Headley filed against the church. She claims her abortions were forced and the church’s restrictive working conditions constituted human trafficking. She has a January trial date. She has submitted to church lawyers a list of 36 current and former staffers she said had abortions while working for the Sea Org.

[Laura] Dieckman, 31, was deposed as a witness. She told the Times she’s not the weepy type. But she couldn’t hold her tears as she talked about how, at 17, she put the greater good of the group ahead of her maternal instinct.

“Now I look at it and I’m like, how or why could I possibly think that? It doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand how I relented, or why I gave in. But I did.”

Within the Sea Org, Scientology’s highest calling, members were allowed to have children until 1996, when the policy changed to what it remains today: No children allowed.

“The policy evolved out of respect for families and deference to children,” Davis said.

Babies were “viewed as interfering with the productivity of Sea Org members,” Davis said. Also, “the long and demanding working hours required of Sea Org members and the need for Sea Org parents to be able to go to any remote area of the world on a moment’s notice were obstacles to parents properly raising their children.”

David Miscavige sued for Human Trafficking

David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center, has been sued and a summons has been issued notifying him of the complaint.

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.

Download PDF

Marc Headley vs CSI: CSI’s motion to strike denied

The busy /b/ees over at the WhyWeProtest forums have made available and analyzed the proceedings in Marc Headley v. Church of Scientology International, et al.

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 on its way to Federal court

From Barry Van Sickle, the attorney in the cases of Marc Headley, Claire Headley, and Laura DeCrescenzo. Posted on WhyWeProtest.net on Wednesday, August 12th 2009.

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.

Update on Headley cases

The following post was made by the lawyer for plaintiff, Barry Van Sickle, on the WhyWeProtest forums. “RTC” means Religious Technology Center, the company that holds all of Scientology’s copyrights. (more…)