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Scientology’s drug rehab hit with another lawsuit; Laura D asked to turn over computer

Ryan Hamilton

Ryan Hamilton

We’re trying to catch up with all of the Scientology legal news happening around the country. Ryan Hamilton, the Las Vegas attorney who is turning suing Scientology’s drug rehab network into a cottage industry, filed his fifth federal fraud lawsuit this week with another complaint against Narconon Fresh Start/Rainbow Canyon Retreat in Caliente, Nevada.

Meanwhile, Laura DeCrescenzo learned that Scientology is trying to get its hands on a computer stored in her garage, and we have numerous other filings regarding Hamilton’s other Narconon lawsuits. Let’s dig in.

Hamilton’s newest lawsuit was filed yesterday on behalf of Harry and Lauren Geanacopulos and their son Peter, who they enrolled in the Nevada Narconon center last fall. The family had learned about the facility in the usual way, after talking to a recruiter who called the facility “Rainbow Canyon Retreat” and “Fresh Start” without mentioning Narconon or its connection to Scientology.

The complaint lays out the other deceptions inherent in the Narconon business model that Hamilton always explains in such detail. That, for example, potential customers are told they’ll get individualized drug counseling, but instead, after arriving, they learn that they’ll be getting introductory Scientology training instead. Hamilton then quotes from other Narconon lawsuits which produced testimony that the treatment regimen at the centers is unscientific, and is advertised with bogus success rates. None of this was revealed to the family when it paid $30,000 up front for their son to enroll in the program.

The Geanacopulos family is suing for breach of contract, fraud, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Here’s the new complaint…

 

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Geanacopulos vs Narconon: Complaint

 
 
Hamilton has also now established a website for informing other potential plaintiffs about his practice and lawsuits against Narconon.

“Our hope is that everyone who has been wronged by Narconon and wants to protect their legal rights against them will know there are attorneys eager to stand up for them,” Hamilton tells us.

Hamilton has now filed five federal lawsuits against Narconon facilities in Nevada and California, and the earlier ones are starting to heat up. We told you previously that in one of the suits, Welch v. Narconon, Narconon’s attorneys had filed a motion to dismiss, and Hamilton then moved for some of Narconon’s responses to be considered admitted. And now he’s filed another reply which explains why Narconon’s attorneys are dissembling when they act like they’ve never heard such accusations before. In fact, Hamilton found another lawsuit recently filed against the Narconon facility in San Diego County which has the same set of allegations — that Narconon hides its connection to Scientology, and doesn’t explain to potential patients that they will be receiving Scientology training, not drug counseling.

And now, a hearing has been set for today in the Welch lawsuit in a Las Vegas courtroom, and we’ll get our first sense of how things go before a judge with one of the Hamilton lawsuits.

One more Hamilton-related update. We told you on April 14 that Narconon had objected to the complaint in the Tarr lawsuit by saying that it was too detailed. Hamilton then fired back. Now, Narconon explains again how Hamilton’s complaint in the Tarr suit should be dismissed.

Notes one of our legal experts, “I believe the reason behind the attack on the complaint is that it mentions celebrity members by name and the church has ordered this attorney to get those names out of the court documents.”

 
Moving on to new developments in Laura DeCrescenzo’s forced-abortion lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. We noticed that some new filings had been made in the case by Scientology’s attorneys, and tracked down copies of what they’ve submitted.

Scientology has filed a motion to compel, claiming that Laura, in a deposition, mentioned that she had a computer stored in her garage that she no longer uses. The church demands access to the machine, and says it will hire a neutral third party firm to scan the contents of the computer’s hard drive in order to find any relevant documents.

We’ll let you know if Laura’s legal team objects to what sounds like a fishing expedition to us.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 24, 2014 at 07:00

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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43

GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer

 

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