Judge to rule that Jane Doe has proved Scientology arbitration ‘unconscionable’

 
Last night, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt posted his tentative ruling before today’s hearing in Jane Doe 1’s forced-marriage lawsuit, and wow, it’s the kind of thing that many people have been waiting to hear about Scientology “religious arbitration” from a judge for a long time.

Judge Broadbelt is proposing to rule that not only does the new law signed by President Biden in 2022 prevent this lawsuit from being forced into arbitration because it involves allegations of sexual assault, he is also going to rule that Jane Doe’s team has proved that Scientology’s version of “religious arbitration” is so one-sided that it is “unconscionable.”

Finally! A judge who gets it!

Wow, this is really something. We expect that Scientology’s attorneys are going to howl during today’s hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 10 am in Los Angeles.

Jane Doe 1 is suing Scientology, its leader David Miscavige, and a Sea Org recruiter named Gavin Potter for forcing her to marry Potter after he assaulted her as an underage employee. It’s a grim set of allegations that charges Miscavige and Scientology with creating an unsafe environment for its workers, many of whom have been minors.

Scientology, however, dug up a 2002 contract signed by Jane Doe at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida that contains an arbitration clause. Scientology is asking the court to find that she is obligated not to sue, and should be forced instead to submit her grievances to Scientology’s internal justice instead. Similar contracts have derailed three other lawsuits filed in recent years by former Scientologists, including just last week with a labor trafficking case in Tampa.

Jane Doe, who was also a victim in the Danny Masterson case and is participating in the separate lawsuit against the actor and the church for harassment, has explained to the court that she did not sign the 2002 document for actual religious services, that she was at the Flag Land Base to spend time with her mother and her friend Lisa Marie Presley, and that the document was never signed by a Scientology official anyway.

Judge Broadbelt, in his tentative ruling, agrees with Jane Doe that her lawsuit should fall under the provisions of the new federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFAA”), which was signed into law on March 3, 2022. Although her sexual assault allegations are from the 1990s, and the contract that Jane Doe signed was dated 2002, the dispute between the two parties did not arise until Jane Doe filed her lawsuit in December 2022, which was after the law went into effect.

The judge’s ruling on unconscionability is also rather stunning. He finds that Jane Doe’s testimony that she was forced to sign the agreement even though she wasn’t seeking services at the time is credible. And that she felt pressured to sign something she didn’t even read. Therefore, he finds a moderate level of “procedural unconscionability.”

Also, he points out that while Scientology’s contracts have church members signing away all of their rights to sue, Scientology itself doesn’t give up that right to sue the church member.

The agreement also forces a member to submit to Scientology arbitration over any grievance, but doesn’t require the church to do the same.

In other words, Scientology arbitration — at least as spelled out in the contract — is not mutual at all. And that, he finds, is “substantively” unconscionable.

The court finds that Plaintiff has established a high level of substantive unconscionability by showing that the arbitration provision set forth in the Agreement lacks mutuality and is “so one-sided as to shock the conscience.” Thus, because Plaintiff has established (1) a moderate level of procedural unconscionability, and (2) a high level of substantive unconscionability, the court finds that Plaintiff has met her burden to show that the arbitration agreement is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.

Wow! This is huge.

We can’t wait to hear how it plays out in court today, and what sorts of arguments Scientology’s attorneys come up with to try and talk Judge Broadbelt out of making his tentative ruling final.

If he does adopt it as final, it will make three major rulings by Los Angeles Superior Court judges in recent weeks that have all gone against Scientology: Judge Upinder Kalra’s denial of Scientology’s attempt to gut the lawsuit of Danny Masterson’s victims, the ruling mostly preserving Leah Remini’s causes of action by Judge Randolph Hammock (who has been sent packing by David Miscavige), and now a repudiation of Scientology arbitration by Judge Broadbelt in Jane Doe’s forced-marriage lawsuit.

Could Scientology’s fortunes at LA Superior Court be turning against the church in a big way? Wow, wow.

Technology Cocktail

“Speed of Training was a major 1969 breakthrough. It takes only 2 weeks to a month to make a competent Dianetic auditor using Standard Dianetics. This can be greatly retarded by study material scarcity. The best way to handle this is to have plenty of study packs, books and clay.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

 
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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?

[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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

 
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Source Code

“There is a civilization a few galaxies over here that, it’s got spaceships and backpacks and infantry zerp guns, and it’s got this, and it’s got certain types of motorcycles, and it’s got that, and so forth. Probably a lot of you are from there because every time it loses a battle they ship the people over here — the enemy does. They know how to get even. So anyway, this old civilization is just about the meanest area to try to put an idea into it you ever had. You see, they worked it out for years and eons and eons. Been going for billions and trillions and trillions of years with an uninterrupted flow, which is pretty unusual in civilizations anyhow, see, and is on a complete, perfect no-Change. And you say, ‘We got an idea for spaceships.’ Their spaceships aren’t all that good. They’re as good as spaceships can be, but you could undoubtedly make a better spaceship, you see. But they blow up on occasion and they do this on occasion, they do that on occasion. They mess up one way or the other. And yet to try to get any idea across to them fills the hierarchy of that particular activity with absolute horror. Because they’ve lived with and through all of the areas of innovation, and innovation to them is dangerous on a departure from the highly workable.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 16, 1964

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Division III where has the packaged soup come from? This is strictly against Flag Order. Where are such dishes as bean and ham soup, Irish stew, beef ragout, noodles and tuna, chicken and noodle soup, green pea soup and ham, chili con carne, fresh vegetable soup, baked beans and franks, shepherd’s pie, chicken and dumplings, lentil soup, potato soup, and chicken and rice soup. Midday meals are to be such as these — good and sustaining.” — MarySue Hubbard, Captain, April 16, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Lafayette Hubbard, I know you’re on to something great. The simplicity of words is such a skill. I think — and I apologize for evaluating — that your last-life introduction to writing was influenced by the classics. These authors, as was the style of the time, wrote in vast prose using more words than needed to get to the point. It was necessary to prove one was not just smart but educated. You, in your this-life writing style, are throwing the old-school Scientologists for a loop. They expect vast verbiage and you deliver it in concise, to the point, easily understood form. They are confused because it isn’t the way you used to say it or write it. Good. They will come around when they understand you are eliminating the need to spend years studying what can be learned in months.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: Grady Ward this week received over 500 pages of Scientology’s phone bill in response to a subpoena. The reaction by Scientology was swift, if not effective. “Last night I received several frantic and frankly, deranged, telephone calls from Thomas R. Hogan, saying that I had ‘illegally’ obtained these records, ‘had gone off the deep end’ and promising all kinds of ex parte doom and gloom if I made these records public. At midnight last night a person identifying themselves as the ‘ho, Helena Kobrin, logged on to #scientology on EFnet and, claiming that I had illegally obtained these records, demanded that any private phone material that I had distributed be not further disseminated, etc etc etc. While I am not surprised at the lunatic ravings of the criminal cult, I of course have not published any numbers lawfully obtained for a legitimate discovery purpose to the Internet. And have written a strong cease and desist letter to Thomas R. Hogan complaining of counsel’s abusive behavior.”

 
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Random Howdy

“I took two trazodone at least six hours ago and I woke up and it’s only an hour later. What the hell is going on? Did the Fifth Invader Force land?”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing May 17, 2024.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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] Group Therapy, Ep. 16: The full gang is back, with an episode for everyone!
[TWO years ago] Updated for 2022: Where in the world are Scientologists actually located?
[THREE years ago] Matt Willis pressured to divorce by Scientology? Our experts back him up.
[FOUR years ago] Ex-con who says he’s returned L. Ron Hubbard has an indie Scientology revolt on his hands
[FIVE years ago] Leah Remini: Where’s the outrage about Scientology’s disappeared?
[SIX years ago] Scientologists, gullible? Would they fall for a felon saying he’s the returned L. Ron Hubbard?
[SEVEN years ago] She ‘graduated’ from Scientology’s drug rehab, which told her she was cured. Now she’s dead.
[EIGHT years ago] More Atlanta video: David Miscavige cuts the ribbon on Scientology’s new real estate venture!
[NINE years ago] Scientology spy caught trying to interview Paul Haggis as fake ‘Time’ magazine reporter
[TEN years ago] Scientology takes aim at the latest move by the Garcias in their federal fraud suit
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Means Never Having to Tell an Ashtray You’re Sorry

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 16, 2024 at 07:00

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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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone