New court documents indicate that the Church of Scientology has asked for an emergency “ex parte” hearing on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court so that it can ask that Valerie Haney’s lawsuit alleging kidnapping and slander be stayed so the church can force her to take her grievances to an internal Scientology arbitration panel instead.
The church also indicated that it will ask for additional time so that it can file an anti-SLAPP motion, which, as we pointed out in the case of Monique Rathbun’s Texas lawsuit in 2013, is ironic that Scientology, known for its bullying tactics, would seek the protection of an anti-SLAPP motion which is intended to keep private citizens from being bullied by large corporations filing frivolous lawsuits in order to silence them.
Scientology’s legal bullying is part of the reason anti-SLAPP laws were developed in the first place, so Scientology saying it’s going to seek protection of an anti-SLAPP against the big bad bully Valerie Haney is exactly the kind of scorched-earth legal strategy Scientology is known for.
Meanwhile, Valerie’s attorneys filed objections to the request for a hearing, and they also made public for the first time what we’ve been curious about since Valerie first filed her lawsuit, and that’s what Scientology was saying about it behind the scenes. Now, we have two letters from Scientology’s attorneys that were sent to Valerie’s legal team trying to threaten and intimidate them about how they would regret taking on the church. We have those for you as well.
First, as for Scientology’s brand of “arbitration,” we told you last week that the plaintiffs in the Danny Masterson lawsuit had also been notified that Scientology was preparing to try and force them into arbitration. Now, we learn that the church is going to try the same thing with Valerie Haney.
Haney filed her bombshell lawsuit this summer (read the amended complaint she filed September 30 here), alleging that because she had worked so closely with church leader David Miscavige for years as his personal steward, she was then held against her will at Scientology’s secretive “Gold Base” because she knew too much about his private life. She ultimately had to escape from the base by hiding in the trunk of a car of an actor who had been working at the base. After she went public with her story on Leah Remini’s TV series, she alleges that she was subjected to a campaign of frightening abuse by the Church of Scientology, including online smears. She’s suing for kidnapping, slander, and several other charges.
But Scientology is hoping to repeat a success it had in the case of a California couple, Luis and Rocio Garcia, who sued Scientology in 2013 for what they alleged were fraudulent practices to convince them to make donations. Tampa federal Judge James Whittemore agreed with Scientology that because the Garcias had signed membership contracts and agreed to take any grievances to Scientology’s internal arbitration, there was nothing he could do about it because the contracts were religious in nature. Whittemore stayed the lawsuit and forced the Garcias into the arbitration (not independent arbitration, but ‘arbitration’ run by Scientologists), which the Garcias characterized as a kangaroo court.
Valerie is backed by a national legal team featuring former prosecutors from Philadelphia. But her opposition to the request for an emergency hearing was written by one of her Burlingame, California attorneys, Kristen A. Vierhaus. She objected to Scientology asking, on December 19, for an emergency hearing on December 23, when the church said it didn’t plan to file its motion for arbitration until today, December 20.
As soon as we have the actual motion for arbitration that the church said was coming, and as soon as we learn what the court says about having that meeting on Monday, we’ll let you know.
In the meantime, Vierhaus also put on the court record a couple of fascinating letters that Scientology’s attorneys mailed on August 1 and August 2, soon after Valerie first filed her original complaint. We think you’ll find the language in them really interesting, as Scientology tried to intimidate Valerie’s legal team about making the mistake of taking on Scientology.
Some choice quotes:
The Complaint is nothing but a vehicle for Ms. Haney’s false and deranged statements against the Church. Your prosecution of the Complaint will lead to awards and sanctions against Ms. Haney and you personally…
Your Complaint presents a real problem for you and your client…
While we expect Ms. Haney to lie, we are shocked that attorneys would sign on to such an inflammatory accusation when it is so patently false.
Scientology Letters re: Han… by Tony Ortega on Scribd
It’s something we point out every time: If you’re going to try and bring Scientology to justice, prepare to be attacked and smeared and intimidated.
So far, however, this legal team, which has filed three big lawsuits with more on the way, has shown no sign of quit in them.
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“Hitler didn’t have any trouble with a large section of his population. He just put them all in concentration camps and that was it. And it’s that kind of a game if you want to look at it. It’s not the game of government and who will we elect and democracy über alles, or something, it’s not all that kind of a government. It’s just the kind of a government, well, there they are nicely out of the running, everybody is out of the running, isn’t that nice. And things are just barely ticking over, and we’re not going to be troubled by those fellows from the 18th Panzer Division that put up such a hell of a fight on Exnoo. We’re not going to be troubled with them anymore because we got them implanted very nicely, and they’ve all been sent down to Earth, and the mores of the society there will take care of everything And they will never be in circulation again as space jockeys. It’s that kind of thinking, you see?” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 20, 1961
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“For those who wonder if I’m a Scientologist, all I can say is: If LRH is the individual I think that person is, I’m pretty sure I’d take a bullet thru the head for that individual. If I felt quite sure it was the best possible way to keep the only Scientology I believe in going.”
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“12:35! Oh shit, there goes another day shot to hell.”
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!
Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Bill Franks, 1946-2018, appointed by Hubbard to ‘reform’ Scientology after Snow White scandal
[TWO years ago] AUDIO: David Miscavige’s claim that Mexico has officially recognized Scientology as a religion
[THREE years ago] The fight over the secrets on a Scientology spy’s seized laptop that no one is talking about
[FOUR years ago] Augustine: Compton scam rehab and ‘literacy crusade’ have vanished since raid
[FIVE years ago] Jon Atack looks back at his final Scientology auditing session — and how he broke free
[SIX years ago] Tom Cruise drops his disastrous suit against Bauer Media and its magazines
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology in 2012: John Sweeney, Paulette Cooper, and More Look Back on a Year of Crisis for the Church
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Kids: Fully Indoctrinated by 18
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,664 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,793 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,297 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,817 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 837 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 728 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,035 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,903 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,677 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,451 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,797 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,363 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,282 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,450 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,031 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,292 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,330 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,043 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,568 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,095 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,658 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,798 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,118 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,974 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,093 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,448 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,751 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,857 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,259 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,131 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,714 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,209 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,463 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,572 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 20, 2019 at 17:30
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