Game over? Scientology claims it’s already won arbitration motion against Valerie Haney

More documents filed in Valerie Haney’s lawsuit included a surprise. Attorney Matthew Hinks, representing Scientology’s nominally controlling entity the Religious Technology Center, claims that Haney’s law team blew a deadline, and therefore the motion to compel her into religious arbitration should be granted by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard J. Burdge Jr.

Valerie filed her lawsuit last summer, alleging that she’d been abused as a Sea Org member and had to escape confinement at its secretive Int Base by hiding in the trunk of a car. When she went public with her story on Leah Remini’s TV series, she was subjected to a frightening “Fair Game” harassment campaign, including smears about her sex life on websites operated by the church. She’s suing RTC, the Church of Scientology International, and her old boss, Scientology leader David Miscavige.

Bolstered by a previous lawsuit it managed to head off by forcing the plaintiffs into “religious arbitration,” RTC and CSI filed motions to do the same to Haney, claiming that whatever she was alleging she had signed religious employment contracts that obligated her to take her grievances to arbitration, not a court of law. RTC and CSI’s motions were originally scheduled to take place on January 29 and 30, but both sides agreed to have them held at the same time on January 30.

We’ve been saying that it’s a huge early moment in this lawsuit and will no doubt have major repercussions for the lawsuit filed by the same legal team on behalf of four women who allege that they were raped by Scientologist actor Danny Masterson, and are suing Masterson, Miscavige, RTC, and CSI for harassment they say they went through after they took their allegations to the LAPD. In that lawsuit, Scientology has also filed motions to force the plaintiffs who were former Scientologists into religious arbitration, but those hearings will come after Valerie’s on January 30.

Last Friday, we posted Valerie’s opposition to CSI’s motion to force her into religious arbitration, and we noted that it seemed to have some very strong arguments to bolster her case. A few days later, Valerie’s team filed an opposition to the “joinder” that RTC filed, saying it too was, like CSI, arguing for arbitration.

But now Hinks, the RTC attorney, is claiming that Valerie’s attorneys blew their deadlines and didn’t respond to RTC’s motion to compel arbitration in time, and so Judge Burdge should grant it without a hearing.

“Given the lack of opposition to the Motion, RTC respectfully submits that its Motion should be granted and this action should be ordered to religious arbitration for all the reasons set forth in the Motion,” he writes, citing the California Code of Civil Procedure in his claim that Valerie’s opposition to RTC wasn’t filed in time.

But as we showed last Friday, Valerie did file her opposition, and in a timely manner it appears, and then specifically filed the opposition to the “joinder” as well. Did she blow a deadline? Will the judge overlook it and proceed with the January 30 hearing as planned?

We’ll keep an eye on it.

Meanwhile, two more significant documents hit the court file today that we thought you’d want to see.

First, there’s CSI’s reply to Valerie’s opposition to arbitration, and the sneering by Scientology’s attorneys continues, in this case William Forman.

“Plaintiff’s Opposition shows that when she has neither the facts nor the law on her side, she reaches for the gun,” Forman begins his attack, referring to Valerie’s assertion that when Scientology attorney Gary Soter had her sign an agreement in order to leave the Sea Org, Soter had with him an armed man.

Forman ridicules Valerie for not mentioning this on Leah Remini’s TV show or in the complaint of her lawsuit, making the implication that Valerie is inventing the armed man as a sign of desperation in her attempt to convince the court that she signed her agreement under duress.

Some other choice quotes from Forman’s reply:

As to the content of that meeting, Plaintiff swears under oath that she did “not know the contents of any of the documents I signed” and “signed any document that was given to me.” But at the meeting she affirmed that she had read the Departure Agreement, understood it, and asked questions about it. She “expressed concerns” about the Agreement and asked for and received revisions that she then initialed.

and

Plaintiff makes vague allegations about “brainwashing” from the age of 6 and being restrained by unnamed people at “Gold Base.” But she admits that she began working for CSI after she was 26 years old, and her agreements with CSI date from after she turned 30.

and so on. Let us know what else in Forman’s document stood out to you.

Also, CSI filed a list of objections it has to Valerie’s declaration supporting her opposition — and that made us realize that we didn’t post her declaration for you to see.

It’s a document that’s good to keep in mind, because much of what Scientology’s attorneys are complaining about as the important January 30 hearing approaches are the ways that Valerie has described what it’s actually like to be a Sea Org worker at Gold Base working for David Misavige. A sample…

I was verbally, physically, and psychologically restricted from leaving the Gold Base. I had little to no contact with family or friends, including my husband, throughout my time at Gold Base. Scientology was my sole source of security, survival, information and human contact. Scientology and Sea Org members at the Gold Base also heavily censored any and all of my communication with relatives, friends, and the outside world, including reading my mail and listening to my phone calls.

Please read through her document and give us your reactions to it. We’ll post it here first and then include the other documents we’ve mentioned.

 
Valerie Haney’s declaration supporting her opposition to religious arbitration

Haney v. Scientology: Decla… by Tony Ortega on Scribd

MORE DOCUMENTS:

CSI’s reply in support of its motion to compel arbitration
RTC’s notice of non-opposition to its motion to compel arbitration
CSI’s objections to material in Valerie’s declaration

 
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Source Code

“A psychiatrist tells you that people aren’t really insane, because insane people could snap out of it if they wanted to, and this, therefore, is their reason for punishing people who are insane. See, their logic just goes haywire halfway through. They almost have an answer and then they miss it. Almost touch it, miss it. Once in a blue moon some psychotic will — well, this is not even a technique — but some psychotic will suddenly get sane on this statement made to him: ‘You don’t have to be insane, you know.’ You know, he all of a sudden gets sane. It’s quite amusing. Much more often, psychotics turn sane on this one: ‘Come up to present time, please.’ They do and they say, ‘Hello!’ They’re not insane anymore; just pull them out of an engram.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 24, 1957

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I spent 40 years in Scientology. Only 9 months ago did I begin to understand who I was really. So, one would have to, without difficulty, be able to step in and out of theta/mind. The construct recedes so it’s different from exteriorization. There’s no written technology to do it so one would simply have to intend if one is interested. Yet, one does not have to be at effect: In your soul cause/effect is no longer applicable. A soul, little by little can be strengthened and theta/mind does not disappear. It remains with you until physical death.”

 
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Random Howdy

“If you believe that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization, that makes David Miscavige the most successful crime boss in the world.”

 
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Start making your plans…

 
Head over to the convention website and meet us in St. Louis!

 
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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] Thirty-three years later, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is still surfing the galaxy
[TWO years ago] The Battle of Portland: How Scientology turned a nightmare court verdict into a major victory
[THREE years ago] Another Leah, inspired by her namesake, comes forward with a harrowing Scientology escape
[FOUR years ago] On the 30th anniversary of L. Ron Hubbard’s galaxial soul ejection, an obit by an old friend
[FIVE years ago] First time in full: 1997 interview of Barbara Klowden, L. Ron Hubbard’s PR agent and lover
[SIX years ago] Scientology wins damages from French court, but it’s not the victory they were hoping for
[SEVEN years ago] L. Ron Hubbard: Still Surfing the Galaxy in 2013

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 24, 2020 at 16:25

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