File this under the WTF? department: You may remember a story we published in May about a Miami Chiropractor named Dennis Nobbe (right). His practice, Dynamic Medical Services, Inc., was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the complaints of four named employees who said that Dynamic forced them to take Scientology courses as part of their jobs.
In fact, Nobbe ran his own Scientology academy, and we heard from past employees who said that for many years, taking courses at the academy was a big part of working at the chiropractic business.
We were told by an EEOC attorney that it was unusual for a lawsuit to be filed, an indication that settlement talks had been fruitless. And now, we’ve learned that settlement discussions have broken down again — but it’s those lunatics in Congress that are at fault this time!
We also noticed that an amended complaint had been filed in the suit, which included more detail about what employees went through. But it was the notice filed in the case because of the shutdown that really grabbed our attention…
Undersigned counsel will notify the Court as soon as Congress has appropriated funds for EEOC and may, at that time, request extensions commensurate with duration of the lapse of appropriations.
The notice indicated that Dynamic had no objection to a delay in the case. Well, why should it!
With the case on hold, at least we have some time to look over the passel of new allegations that have been added to the government’s case against Nobbe’s firm.
According to the amended complaint, some employees had been hired by Nobbe just to run Scientology courses. Other employees were forced to attend courses and go to the local Scientology church.
Dynamic’s owner and supervisors repeatedly harangued employees to go to the Church of Scientology, to engage in Scientology practices, to read Scientology religious books, and lecture employees about Scientology religious beliefs, many times forcing or coercing employees to actually engage in Scientology religious practices.
Examples included Nobbe announcing at company-wide meetings that employees had to sign up for Scientology courses and “have to go to the church.”
Employees were also “required to sell The Way to Happiness and Dianetics to patients.”
Another detail: “Nobbe and course instructors told [complainant Norma] Rodriguez that Scientologists did not believe people got sick, but rather that illness was just in peoples’ minds.”
Employees were also forced to undergo Scientology auditing and do the Purification Rundown.
When employee Rommy Sanchez spent more than a month on the Purification Rundown regimen of five hours daily in a sauna with high intake of niacin, she fainted. When she then skipped a couple of days, her supervisor demanded know why she hadn’t continued.
According to the amended complaint, the employees repeatedly said they didn’t want to sell Scientology materials and take Scientology courses, which they knew were religious in nature — and not their religion. One employee was told, “You will do it because Nobbe requires it.”
When employee Maykel Ruz balked at doing training routines (which included moving another person from one position to another) he was told by Nobbe through a translator that Nobbe could fire him at any time and replace him with “Balseros” — Cuban immigrants arriving by raft.
Wow, this really sounds like a pretty egregious case of religious discrimination in the workplace. It’s a shame that the mess in Washington is keeping these employees from getting some justice.
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Alfreddie’s Fruit Loop Brigade Still Riled Up
A month ago, we told you about the hucksters at the World Literacy Crusade — a Scientology front group started by Alfreddie Johnson and run by Hanan Islam — who were hopping mad that the crisis in Medi-Cal funding of questionable drug rehabs in California had ended up shutting off their sweet government gig of subjecting kids to Scientology’s quack Narconon drug program.
They were so angry, we reported, they had rallied the troops for a bus ride to the state capitol in Sacramento to complain to lawmakers.
Well, that effort apparently fell on deaf ears. So now the Crusade has taken its cause to MoveOn.org, where it has set up a petition to bolster its mighty cause. And so far, it’s collected 34 of the 50 signatures it set as a goal!
Here’s the information posted about the petition…
American Health and Education Clinics, (AHEC) services 500 youth on a daily basis with vital substance abuse and mental health services. These services, as well as the services of 21 other agencies in the inner cities were abruptly and illegally stopped as a result of a review by the Dept of Health Care Services under the guise of a “crackdown on Medi-Cal fraud”.
No wrong doing was proven and basic laws and polices were violated by the Dept, yet these children are still not receiving services and AHEC’s funds for services already rendered are being held, causing an extreme financial hardship and inability to service the youth who so badly need it.
We need your help! No one knows what is going on. The media is only reporting on a crackdown, which involved a couple of specific agencies but not that the 22 agencies, having been shut down, have been found of no wrong doing and these youth are in the streets with no help.
Please take time to sign our petition to have our elected officials look into the illegal and unjust handling of AHEC and the 21 other agencies.
After a bus ride to Sacramento and 50 signatures rounded up through the power of the Internet, they ought to get that pipeline of taxpayer money flowing again and get those kids back in the sauna! Toot sweet!
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 10, 2013 at 07:00
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