We’ll give him this — Vance Woodward is a fighter. The attorney, who spent more than 20 years in Scientology, then dropped out of it, wrote a book about his experiences in the church (which he later pulled from circulation), helped us read Dianetics cover to cover in one of our favorite series here at the Bunker, and moved to Los Angeles to restart his legal career, is not giving up on his lawsuit over the $200,000 he says he still has on account at Scientology.
Like other longtime church members, Vance had banked money against future courses that he didn’t end up taking, and he wants it back. But Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson granted Scientology’s anti-SLAPP motion and dismissed the suit.
Johnson criticized Vance for papering the court with complaints not so much about the money dispute but about how Scientology worked and how it had failed him. Scientology characterized that as an attack on its First Amendment right to free religious expression, and Johnson agreed.
Now, Vance is back with a more narrowly focused document which says that his lawsuit is really about a contract and a money dispute, not about Scientology’s First Amendment rights. If you remember, we told you last time that Scientology had pulled a last-minute switch: Woodward had been preparing for a hearing about Scientology’s motion to compel internal arbitration, but at the last minute it substituted that for its anti-SLAPP motion, which the judge granted.
Vance says he was sandbagged, and he thinks the judge should consider material that he’d prepared for the arbitration issue until the switch was made.
He makes several legal arguments, and we’ll let the lawyers in our community tell us how sound they are. We think Vance makes some good points here, but we’re not sure how often a motion to reconsider is granted. We’d love to get some smart opinions from our legal friends.
Here’s the motion…
Woodward v. Scientology: Motion for Reconsideration
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Claire Headley on her escape from Scientology
Claire continues the thrilling story of her escape from Scientology’s secretive International Base in this podcast with Jeffrey Augustine…
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 21, 2014 at 07:00
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BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
