Scientology denies that new law prevents Jane Doe being forced into arbitration

We’ve seen several lawsuits filed by former Scientologists get forced out of court and into Scientology’s own internal “religious arbitration” in recent years, and next week there’s yet another that is facing a showdown over this, in the lawsuit filed by Jane Doe 1, who alleges she was forced as a minor into a marriage by Scientology in order to cover up underage sexual assault.

Could Scientology convince yet another judge that “a contract is a contract” and that a former Scientologist can’t sue the church, even when such horrendous allegations are in play? We told you that Jane Doe’s legal team is arguing that Congress had this kind of case in mind when it passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFAA”) in 2022, and Jane Doe should not be forced into arbitration because she signed a contract which, they say, is highly problematic anyway.

Scientology dug up an agreement that Jane Doe signed in 2002 when she made a visit to the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. She explained in court declarations that she had gone to Flag to visit with her mother and spend time with her close friend Lisa Marie Presley, who was also a Scientologist then. She said that she had been told she had to sign an agreement merely to be remain at the base, and that she had no intention at the time to engage in “religious services.” So, in other words, a contract is not always a contract, she argues, and the 2002 document wasn’t even countersigned by anyone on Scientology’s staff anyway.

Now, before Tuesday’s hearing, Scientology has hit back at those arguments, saying that the EFAA doesn’t apply, and also accusing Jane Doe of changing her story over time about the circumstances of signing the contract and whether she accepted religious services or not. In other words, Scientology is arguing once again that a contract is a contract, which has worked for the church in several other cases.

Here’s the introduction to Scientology’s latest filing…

Plaintiff’s Opposition is the third time Plaintiff has submitted a declaration to evade application of her unambiguous assent to arbitration. The two declarations she has submitted in this case describe the supposed pressures on her to sign the Agreement, what she was told to “force” her to sign the Agreement, and what she felt as she signed the Agreement. No detail is too small, including the name of the restaurant where Lisa Marie Presley was holding a birthday party that Plaintiff would not have been permitted to attend absent execution of the Agreement. But over three years ago in Bixler v. Church of Scientology Int’l, Plaintiff swore under penalty of perjury: “I have no recollection of ever filling out, seeing, initialing, or signing [the Agreement].”

Plaintiff’s new narrative is contradicted by the contemporaneous record, other witnesses, and her own prior sworn testimony. Plaintiff’s willingness to say anything – regardless of her oath – to avoid enforcement of her Agreement is mirrored in her legal arguments. Her Agreement was accepted, as shown by her own signed acknowledgement of acceptance and her subsequent years of participation in Scientology Religious Services. The EFAA does not apply, as she has pled that the dispute between her and Defendants arose in 1991 – more than 30 years before the EFAA’s enactment and years before she signed the Agreement. The McGill rule is inapplicable as her Agreement does not bar public injunctive relief. Her unconscionability challenge claiming lack of mutuality contradicts clear authority that finds mutuality in similar arbitration language. And her claim that there are no procedures in Scientology arbitration rests purely on speculation, and ignores the language of the Agreement itself. Plaintiff’s Agreement must be enforced now.

When President Biden signed the EFAA into law two years ago, he handed the pen he used to Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who had been so instrumental in lobbying for the legislation. And we certainly remember that Carlson, when testifying to Congress in 2021, specifically mentioned Scientology forcing the Danny Masterson victims into arbitration as an example of the kind of injustice she deplored. (Fortunately for that case, the ruling forcing it into arbitration was later overturned by an appeals court.)

Jane Doe’s legal team is arguing that the new Congressional act applies in her case because it was signed into law in March 2022 and Jane Doe filed her lawsuit in December 2022. But Scientology counters that it doesn’t work that way, and the EFAA doesn’t apply to allegations that took place in the 1990s.

Will that sway Judge Robert Broadbelt III, and will he agree, despite the sickening nature of these allegations, that the 2002 agreement obliges Jane Doe to take her case to Scientology’s one-sided arbitration, which requires a panel of arbitrators who are members of the church in good standing?

At least we only have to wait until next week to find out.

Meanwhile, yesterday in the Bixler lawsuit — which includes Jane Doe 1 as a plaintiff along with two other victims of Danny Masterson — a hearing was scheduled for the Court to consider whether to allow a new amended complaint that will add a fourth victim (actress Tricia Vessey) and racketeering allegations against the Church of Scientology.

However, after hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Upinder Kalra decided to continue the hearing to May 29. And remember, we’re still waiting for him to rule on previous motions filed by Scientology. This guy is apparently not in a hurry.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“As far as past lives are concerned, if you don’t run mental image pictures from past lives when they come up on a chain, the preclear will not recover. A pathetic case of this occurred in early research. A girl crippled by polio was able to throw away her crutches after my first session. And would have become entirely well except that she recalled seeing and hearing Lincoln give his Gettysburg address. Her mother condemned her for such nonsense. The girl’s lameness was confirmed and perpetuated by this and by a psychotic father who raved at me for daring to suggest such things. I didn’t suggest anything. In auditing the girl she suddenly came up with being at Gettysburg listening to Lincoln. Seems a bit cruel to condemn a young girl to a lifetime of lameness just to satisfy a fixed idea. The weird idea is that one only lives but once.” — 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

 
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Source Code

“I don’t know what number the GPM is back at the year 200 trillion. On some PCs it will probably be number 52; and on some PCs it’ll be number 31, don’t you see? So to get a consistent numbering, when we say the first GPM, we mean the one which is nearest or the latest formed one. It’s the goal of that one that you have to have, but some pcs have skidded their wheels. They’ve listened to speeches by the Democrats or they’ve they’ve looked over Australian legal procedure or something like that, and they’ve skidded their wheels. And they’ve gone back to the second GPM and are living this life in the second GPM. You understand that? They’ve met an oppterm, let us say, in the second GPM of sufficient magnitude to cause them to be the terminal of the second GPM. You understand? That’s horrifying, isn’t it? Well, I’ll tell you why it’s horrifying. Because if you found the goal that they are living at this moment, it wouldn’t run. That makes some PCs more difficult to find goals on than others. You follow that? Now, what is more complicated is that the first GPM may or may not be fully formed. You may have only the first eight items of the first GPM formed, or you may have only the first 16 items of the first GPM formed because of course the PC normally is forming these things progressively as you move on up the track. Well, as we were saying last night, it is really too bad that we didn’t have somebody at various points of the track, and he took a gun and he said, ‘Everyone will now postulate his 65th GPM goal’ —bang! You see, and we all did it at once. Only it didn’t work that way. Some fellows postulated theirs thousands of years ago, some billions of years ago, and some trillions of years ago. So this of course makes it an uneven number.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 21, 1963

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Vixie is OK. She was taken to the vet this morning. Her leg isn’t broken. It was a torn ligament. Mary Sue gave her a touch assist last night. Vixie went totally anaten. The pain shock was in her shoulder and went up to her head which she for awhile refused to permit to be touched. The touch assist was done on both sides of the body (other leg too) and near and far areas. You wear thick gloves in giving a dog or cat a touch assist as they snap and scratch and disassociate. The swelling went down and she came up to growl tone. On return from the vet she got a bone and sat in the foyer where she could bark at people.” —The Commodore, March 21, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“The hidden datum about thetans is that at static there is only one thetan. There is only one of us. All thetans are one beingness, divided against itself. Because there is only one of us at the top of Filbert’s Expanded Tone Scale, any aberative incident which happens to one of us in the presence of another one of us has to be erased also from that point of view, because that other person’s viewpoint is YOURS too! We experience everything that happens around us from the point of view of everything there. But even there’s more. If for example a person is involved in an automobile accident, to achieve total erasure (not merely partial and a release) it would be necessary to assume every viewpoint possible. This would be what looks like madness from a human perspective: the driver of car A, the passenger in car A, the driver of car B, the French poodle in the front seat of car B, the pedestrian who was gazing into a shop window and heard the crash behind her, car A, car B, the pavement, the sky, the buildings, the lamp post, the stop sign (especially the ‘stop’ sign, ha ha!), the sparrow flying past, the tree growing nearby — Get the picture?”

 
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Past is Prologue

1999: Charlotte L. Kates reported this week on the files of the original Cult Awareness Network. “As many ARS readers are well aware, the (real) Cult Awareness Network has been undergoing a major legal battle to save its thousands of sensitive files from passing into the hands of Scientology and its fake CAN. On Friday, March 12, Chicago Judge Thomas Quinn ordered *all* of the CAN files-membership and donor lists, financial records, and thousands of personal, once-confidential letters and correspondence from ex-members and families of cult victims to be turned over to the sheriff for auction in 60 days. CAN Board representative Dr. Ed Lottick stated that it appeared the judge had not even read the CAN board’s briefs on the issue, and that the judge ‘ran roughshod over us with big clodhopper boots.’ Quinn, with remarkable insensitivity, commented that a previous judge had received letters of protest over such a sale, and that if he received such letters, he would not read them. Scientology’s already-dominant ability to spend money for the files is bolstered further by the fact that Gerald Beeney, a Scientologist, bought the Scott judgment from Jason Scott for $25,000, and would receive any income from the sale of the files, which he would undoubtedly be willing to return to Scientology. If you or anyone you know has information about yourself or a relative or friend in the CAN files, this is a warning that Scientology–well known for using personal information to harass and attack its critics and opponents–may soon have that personal information in its hand. Thousands of cult victims and their families may be at risk of harassment due to this action! Said Cynthia Kisser, former ED of CAN, about this issue in the past, ‘If the bankruptcy court lets those records be sold they are basically taking people’s worst fears, which they’ve confided in the Cult Awareness Network, and selling them to the very organization that created the trauma and that pain.'”

Random Howdy

“So when some little kid says ‘goo goo ga ga’ during an auditing session the auditor tells the parents that junior was speaking in a whole track alien dialect?”

 
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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 March 26, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— 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 March 20.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on March 26.
— 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] New Shelly Miscavige sighting actually took place earlier than you may have heard
[TWO years ago] Quentin Hubbard’s suicide: A Scientology-based explanation so insane it might be true
[THREE years ago] ABCMouse honcho gives Scientology another $10 million — for construction of ‘LRH Hall’
[FOUR years ago] Scientology and the coronavirus: Keeping the orgs open as ‘essential services’
[FIVE years ago] That feeling when Scientology tries to creep you out as a recruiting strategy
[SIX years ago] Kirstie Alley goes OT 8, celebrates her ‘confront’ level on Scientology’s cruise ship ‘Freewinds’
[SEVEN years ago] Reza Aslan is already being dishonest about indie Scientology ahead of CNN episode
[EIGHT years ago] No longer working for Monique Rathbun to sue Scientology, Ray Jeffrey opens up
[NINE years ago] ‘Going Clear’ subject Tom DeVocht reveals new info about Tom Cruise and Scientology’s leader
[TEN years ago] French land sale falls apart once town learns Scientologists are involved
[ELEVEN years ago] The Mother and Child Reunion: Another Dianetics Nightmare

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 21, 2024 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, 1995-2022 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