Last time we checked in on the federal fraud lawsuit brought by Luis and Rocio Garcia against the Church of Scientology, we told you about a rare appearance by the church’s “International Justice Chief,” Mike Ellis.
We explained that the IJC is something of a notorious figure in Scientology because he’s an excommunicated member’s only “terminal” for communicating with the church. And so he handles the requests of kicked-out members as they complain about getting money back that they left on account.
Ellis submitted a declaration claiming that Scientology’s internal justice procedures are legitimate, and that the internal arbitration process it wants the Garcias to undergo (in lieu of the lawsuit) are governed by well-defined rules.
We noted that Ellis’s account seemed weak, and now, a few days later, the Garcias have answered Ellis’s declaration with an affidavit by former church executive Mike Rinder (pictured).
In the document, Rinder says he knows that the arbitration system mentioned in Scientology’s enrollment contracts was a sham because he wrote the contracts. As a Scientology executive overseeing legal affairs, he would have known if the arbitration rules had ever actually been used. But they weren’t, because they were a fiction.
“It simply was not the intent of the Church that the ‘arbitration’ process amount to anything beyond a statement on paper,” Rinder writes.
He goes into more detail, and by the end of it, there’s really nothing left of Ellis’s statements.
Now, it’s up to Judge James D. Whittemore. He’ll decide on Scientology’s insistence that any grievance of the Garcias is an internal, church matter, and to allow the lawsuit to continue would be a violation of Scientology’s rights to religious expression. If he sides with the Garcias, he may make some interesting pronouncements about Scientology’s ‘justice’ rules while he finds that Scientology can be sued for fraudulent behavior without trampling its religious rights. It’s going to be a fascinating decision, and we expect that it will come pretty soon.
Here’s Rinder’s affidavit…
Garcia v. Scientology: Mike Rinder Affidavit
——————–
Karen de la Carriere on Scientology snooping
Karen helps us understand how much a member of Scientology is subject to the church’s information control — and to what lengths the organization will go to find damaging information about a person.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on October 16, 2014 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
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, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
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, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ