In advance of Thursday’s court hearing in Valerie Haney’s kidnapping and harassment lawsuit, Scientology’s attorney William Forman has filed a declaration accusing Valerie of “obstructionist tactics and bad faith selection of unavailable arbitrators.”
Valerie filed her lawsuit in 2019 accusing Scientology of keeping her against her will for years as a Sea Org worker at Int Base, near Hemet, California. She said she had to escape her tenure there by literally hiding in the trunk of a car driven by an actor who was on the base to film something.
After her escape, Valerie went to work as an assistant to actress Leah Remini, and Valerie’s story became the subject of the premiere episode of the third and final season of Remini’s A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath.
Valerie alleged that after she had left Scientology, she had been subjected to surveillance, intimidation, and also libelous attacks on the Internet by Scientology.
But the church successfully convinced Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge that Valerie had signed employment contracts which obliged her not to sue in court and to submit any grievances to Scientology’s own internal brand of “religious arbitration.”
After trying unsuccessfully multiple times to convince Judge Burdge to reconsider his ruling, and with a new judge, Gail Killefer, assigned to the case, Valerie was told to start the arbitration process or risk having her lawsuit dismissed.
That first step in Scientology’s arbitration would involve Valerie nominating an arbitrator who had to be a member of Scientology in good standing. (Scientology would then choose a second arbitrator, and those two arbitrators would choose a third. All three would have to be church members.)
Objecting to the process, Valerie cheekily nominated Elisabeth Moss, Tom Cruise, and Shelly Miscavige in succession. After all, they were all Scientologists in good standing, right?
Forman let Judge Killefer know that the church is not amused.
In between July 2022 and now, Plaintiff has acted only to obstruct the arbitration, as shown by her bad faith selections of arbitrators. On July 1, Plaintiff named as her arbitrator Elisabeth Moss. Ms. Moss is a famous film and television actress and producer, known for her starring roles in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Mad Men.” She has won two Emmy awards, two Golden Globes, and appeared in over 50 films. A quick internet search would reveal that she resides in New York and is often filming and producing throughout the world.
On August 11, 2022, the International Justice Chief (“IJC”) of the Church of Scientology wrote to Plaintiff informing her that Ms. Moss had declined to serve as her arbitrator. The IJC instructed Plaintiff to select another arbitrator within 15 days. Plaintiff immediately shared this letter with an anti-Scientology blogger, announcing Ms. Moss’ decision to decline to serve as an arbitrator.
On August 23, 2022, Plaintiff, through her attorney, sent a letter nominating two arbitrators: Tom Cruise and Shelly Miscavige. As with her other correspondence with the IJC, she circulated this letter to an anti-Scientology blogger, resulting in world-wide press.
These “nominations” were patently ludicrous. Shelly Miscavige is the wife of David Miscavige, who is not only the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion but also a named defendant in this lawsuit and in Plaintiff’s arbitration demand. Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (which she also submitted as her arbitration demand) even contains allegations concerning Mrs. Miscavige. And Plaintiff could not have thought for a moment that Tom Cruise would be available to serve as an arbitrator of her claims.
…On November 23, 2022, the IJC responded to Plaintiff, informing her that Mr. Cruise and Mrs. Miscavige were not available to sit as arbitrators of her claims….It has been over two months, and Plaintiff has never responded to this letter, or otherwise indicated a selection of other arbitrators. But there is one thing she had done promptly: she immediately shared the IJC’s November 23, 2022 letter with the press.
Imagine that, world-wide press resulting from something posted by a scurrilous anti-Scientology blogger on the fringes of the Internet. By Xenu’s ghost!
Anyway, as to that last assertion, that Valerie hasn’t submitted anything in the last two months, we don’t know what’s up with that. And we don’t know yet what her attorneys are going to say in Thursday’s hearing.
Has Valerie given up on this legal farce? Do her attorneys have something else up their sleeves? We’ll keep an eye on it.
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Observer reaches Blue Whale Kha-Khan status!
In 2018, we decided to have some fun with Scientology’s obsession with “status levels” for large donors. So we created our own whimsical status levels for our commenters over at the dot org site, and based them on the coin of the realm: upvotes.
We call Scientology’s big donors “whales,” so we appropriated that motif for our own statuses. And hence, the Underground Bunker’s whales were born.
Every once in a while, you may see us give updates as commenters reach new plateaus as their upvotes pile up. They might start out as Minnow Champions, and progress through Marlin Straightwire, Great White Shark Super Power, and Narwhal Humanitarian, to mention just a few.
But one status level was above all the rest: Blue Whale Kha-Khan, representing 500,000 upvotes to achieve. We originally put it there thinking of it as a sort of impossible final goal. No one would ever get that many upvotes, would they?
Well, today we’re recognizing Lynette “Observer” Waggoner for being the first Underground Bunker regular to reach this stupendous level of achievement.
Hip, hip, hooray! Not only is Lynette a great commenter at the Bunker, she’s our resident illustrator, and also a member of the Group Therapy podcast.
And now she’s Blue Whale Kha-Khan and has a license to kill!
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Technology Cocktail
“In Para-Scientology there is much discussion about ‘between lives areas’ and other phenomena which might have passed at one time or another for heaven or hell, but it is established completely that a thetan is immortal and that he himself cannot actually experience death and counterfeits it by forgetting. It is adequately manifest that a thetan lives again and that he is very anxious to put something on the ‘time track’ (something for the future) in order to have something to come back to, thus we have the anxieties of sex. There must be additional bodies for the next life.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1956
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?
— The Underground Bunker Podcast
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH
— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see
[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf
— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial
[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [14] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [15] Oct 24: Day Nine [16] Oct 25: Day Ten [17] Oct 27: Day Eleven [18] Oct 28: Day Twelve [19] Second week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [20] Halloween special [21] Nov 2: Day Thirteen [22] Nov 3: Day Fourteen [23] Nov 4: Day Fifteen [24] Third week in review [25] Nov 5, Saturday special [26] Nov 6, Sunday special [27] Nov 7, Day Sixteen [28] Lisa Marie Presley breaking news [29] Nov 8, Day Seventeen [30] Nov 9, Day Eighteen [31] Nov 10, Day Nineteen
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“Our problem at this time probably doesn’t have anything to do with making anybody better. Our problem, probably from here on out, is a problem of another hue and color. It is probably ‘Now having cracked the confounded thing, how do we keep this universe here?’ That’s probably a much more interesting problem.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 31, 1957
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“It is of interest to Scientologists that the clamor raised over the years by Smersh about me and all the hard names called have not even faintly affected my membership in various and numerous high level associations and scientific societies and clubs. The list of these are quite long and all of them are a big ‘high and mighty’ in the arts, sciences and social stratas. I was just looking at my influx of magazines and notices of meetings and it struck me as rather funny that the highest of our detractors would give his back molars to be accepted into some of these groups. I also hadn’t realized the list was so long. Most of them black ball first and think about it afterwards. Yet for twenty years they have been very serene. So don’t get into the notion that the ‘power of the press’ has any real bearing on the world. According to this testimony of personal repute, the opposition might as well have spent their time yelling into a well. Thought it would be of some interest to you. US and UK press and TV have been quite favorable lately. So year by year the stats rise and reputation grows. And during all this time my own personal repute has remained very high in the places that matter. In the long view we are doing a very good job. Our only complaint is that we could do better and do it faster. But remember, it IS getting done.” — The Commodore, January 31, 1971
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“My investigation into Hitler was that he was a radical guy but actually meant well, and Earth would have been better if the germans had won! There i said it, ive known it for awhile now but didnt mention it for PR reasons but thats what all the evidence leads to. I actually respect the guy. Im telling you the truth is wild and always remember the mandela effect is real so we could have just popped into a universe where Hitler was actually the good guy.”
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1996: Controversy this week concerning Tom Marcellus, prominent Scientology member and director of the Institute for Historical Review (IHR). IHR maintains that the Holocaust never happened. Evidence of this link was posted by Tilman Hausherr. Cory Brennan, spokesperson for Scientology, has denied that Tom Marcellus is a Holocaust revisionist. Tilman quotes an IHR web page: “http://www.kaiwan.com/~ihrgreg/jhr/v13n6p52_Raven.html ‘From McCalden’s departure in 1981 until 1982, Tom Marcellus served as editor. Marcellus started at the bottom at the IHR and worked his way up to become director, a position he assumed in 1981 and holds today.’ I don’t know what ‘today’ is. The HTML document is from 28.10.1995. On the other hand, I have read in the IHR FAQ that Marcellus left the IHR to pursue his scieno plans. The German edition of ‘Freedom’, Scientology’s propaganda paper, brings the bizarre theory that Marcellus ‘discovered’ that the IHR was denying the Holocaust and then ousted Carto. They even printed 2,000,000 copies of that lie. ‘On his own initiative Scientologist Tom Marcellus organised a movement against Willis Carto and threw this extremist out of an organisation named Institute for Historical Review, after he had discovered that this institute, that claimed to have been founded to correct historical mistakes, was in fact being used by Carto to propagate the Auschwitz-lie. But Carto is still controlling the Liberty Lobby and The Spotlight.’ We know of course that this is complete bullshit, but why not prove it with Marcellus own words? http://web.kaiwan.com/~ihrgreg/jhr/v14n1p25_Okeefe.html ‘2.The IHR did not accept or in any way agree with Judge Johnson’s ridiculous 1981 ‘judicial notice’ that Jews were ‘in fact’ exterminated in ‘gas chambers’ at Auschwitz. ‘3.The IHR has not retreated one inch from its well-known position that there is no credible evidence to support the theory that Germans allegedly used homicidal poison gas chambers to exterminate the Jews of Europe.'”
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“My father didn’t even want to go to Korea. He considered himself a socialist and he had already served in WWII and he had this incredibly cush job as Chief Steward on a luxury liner The Lorlene that sailed from S.F to Hawaii, so when he got his draft notice he threw it in the trash. They came aboard the ship and arrested him, sent him to the stockade for a few months and asked him if he wanted to stay there for the next 10 years or go to Korea. He went to Korea, became a tank sergeant and won a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart…and he killed a Chinese soldier with his bayonet. That’s the thing he really brought home.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Plea deadline scheduled for December 16.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to time served with three years supervised release, restitution of $9.7 million.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial hearing December 9.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through February 7.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Case settled ahead of scheduled Dec 6 trial.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. 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 a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] And now for this word from Scientology about how great everything is!
[TWO years ago] Scientology social media: Body thetans just don’t stand a chance as this planet is cleared!
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s 2020 Super Bowl ad is just like all the others: A mystery sandwich
[FOUR years ago] Former members of the Lisa McPherson Trust reflect on Tuesday’s ‘Aftermath’ episode
[FIVE years ago] A mini-trove of early Scientology materials has some gems for us today
[SIX years ago] For 30 grand or so, Scientology will let you into its shrine to L. Ron Hubbard. Here’s a peek.
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology attorney Bert Deixler writes a threat letter to Karen de la Carriere over TV show
[EIGHT years ago] Jon Atack: Scientology’s elusive ‘Clears’ and ‘Operating Thetans’ — where have they been?
[NINE years ago] Leah Remini is still thumbing her nose at Scientology leader David Miscavige
[TEN years ago] Ursula Caberta Retiring: Her Thoughts On Fighting Scientology in Germany for 20 Years
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Sues Debbie Cook Over Her New Year’s Eve E-Mail
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,926 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,431 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,981 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,971 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,862 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,166 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,037 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,142 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,615 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,931 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,497 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,416 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,584 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,165 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,426 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,463 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,178 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,742 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,057 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,232 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,783 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,914 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,252 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,107 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,226 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,582 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,885 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,991 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,389 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,265 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,848 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,343 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,597 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,706 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 31, 2023 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
