Last week we detailed how the Church of Scientology was responding to a lawsuit filed by four women who say they were violently raped by Danny Masterson and who accuse the Scientologist actor, the church, and church leader David Miscavige of orchestrating a campaign of slander and stalking against them for coming forward with their allegations.
After that story was published we heard from someone who was surprised to learn that she’s named in the lawsuit.
Her name is Kathy Gold, and she’s a former church member who still considers herself a Scientologist. In the lawsuit Gold is named as someone who was part of an online campaign to attack Masterson’s accusers for coming forward.
The lawsuit was filed by Chrissie Carnell Bixler, Bobette Riales, and two women going by the names Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, who have all been working with the Los Angeles Police Department in a years-long investigation of Masterson. Chrissie’s husband rocker Cedric Bixler-Zavala is also a plaintiff, who alleges that he and his wife have been subject to bizarre harassment since the women approached the LAPD with their allegations. In the lawsuit, one of the examples of that harassment mentions Kathy Gold…
In and around September of 2018, Defendants’ agent Kathy Gold started publicly threatening Plaintiff Bixler, the other Plaintiffs, and their relatives. Gold threatened to commit serious and violent crimes against Plaintiffs including murder. Gold accused Plaintiffs of being religious bigots and liars. Gold threatened to report Plaintiff Bixler to Child Services to have the Bixler Plaintiffs’ then five-year-old twins taken away from then [sic] and further threatened that the children would be drugged and raped.
Gold tells us she didn’t realize that she’d been named in the lawsuit when it was filed last summer, despite the national media it attracted. But she did notice that we mentioned her last week when we quoted the Church of Scientology International’s response, denying that Gold is an “agent” of the church.
Plainly, that a person is a member of a religion does not establish that all actions performed by that person were “at the direction” of the religious institution. For instance, if a Catholic is the party at fault in an automobile crash, the injured party cannot allege a claim against the Catholic Church by stating that the culpable driver is a Catholic.
That response from the church was in a “demurrer” (a type of court filing) which is attempting to dismiss Bobette Riales from the case — Scientology’s strategy against the other plaintiffs, who were all Scientologists, is to try and force them into “religious arbitration” based on the language in contracts they signed as church members.
Gold has reacted to being included in the court filings with a new page at her website, where she denies that the allegations about her are true, and claims that it was Carnell Bixler who actually posted online threats against her.
I never publicly threatened plaintiffs and their families, again my blog was taken out of context and my words twisted and altered, another violation of my free speech, my 1st amendment. And for the record I’m not an agent for the church of scientology, this is false and a lie. They can’t prove that either, no evidence of it. Just a false accusation.
Gold maintains an extensive website where she compiles what she says is evidence that she herself was sexually assaulted while in the Church of Scientology, evidence that she says she is preparing for a federal lawsuit against the church. In her new posting, she implies that she’ll be adding the Masterson accusers as defendants in her lawsuit.
To give you some sense of Gold’s website, here’s a paragraph she included about her anger with the government for not investigating her claims that she was sexually abused by Scientologists in 1998…
This is how Americans really are, Nazis, if I was a terrorist, I would have poisoned the water supply and set off bombs already all over this piece of shit country, in 1999 I wasn’t ready to die after the LAPD threatened me with murder, I’m ready to die now cause everything, all my dynamics, all my goals, all my dreams including my body were destroyed by Americans, Americans born here. I can’t wait to fuck these Nazis up, I’m gonna get a great release killing them all and they deserve it, they’re all Nazis, not Americans. No wonder everybody outside of the USA hates Americans. Obama and his piece of shit administration put me down this road cause I’m white, a Jew, a Catholic, a Scientologist etc etc, if he gets to Africa, take him out, kill him, his piece of shit Nazi [n-word] wife and his children, cut the Secret Service’s throats, make them all bleed. Obama just wanted to use me for my damages, money. This piece of shit Nazi [n-word] called Loretta Lynch, aided and abetted Obama in his theft of billions of USA dollars from USA victims. These people are all evil and if he blows to Africa, take him out, take them all out. If Obama was a good guy, he would have told the Nazi FBI to have me come in, he would have intervened not failed to act, it would be against the law for me to falsely report crimes and I would have been deported. I mean really how hard was it for this guy to lift his hand and pick up the phone, it wasn’t broken. Instead he told them to reject me, to slam the door in my face and cause me pain. Obama is a [n-word] Nazi. If I die, make sure he dies, make him bleed.
In other news in the Masterson/Miscavige lawsuit, we happened to notice something surprising in what was otherwise a mundane document filed by the plaintiffs, a case management statement.
You will probably remember that the attorneys for Carnell Bixler and the others submitted documents suggesting that they had served Scientology leader David Miscavige with the lawsuit in October, but Miscavige’s attorneys told the court that the attempt to serve him court papers was “fraudulent” and unsuccessful.
Scientology has filed massive documents with the court, containing painstakingly detailed accounts from its employees about the attempt to serve Miscavige papers, objecting, for example, that the server went to the wrong door in a Scientology building. Hearings are scheduled beginning in early February to hash out the objections by Miscavige and the church.
We hadn’t seen any response from Carnell Bixler’s attorneys on the matter, but we just noticed that in a case management statement they submitted, they do now appear to admit that they didn’t serve the church leader properly.
Whoops. In another lawsuit filed by the same legal team, on behalf of Miscavige’s former steward, Valerie Haney, we notice that new filings of proof of service were put into the court file on December 19, reporting that two of the defendant entities, the Church of Scientology International and the Religious Technology Center, had been served anew, and at their proper addresses. So perhaps new attempts are being made on Miscavige in both lawsuits.
Motions to compel Haney into religious arbitration are scheduled to be heard in court on January 29 and 30. The motions to hear Scientology’s complaints about improper service in the Masterson lawsuit are now scheduled for February 6.
UPDATE: Just added to the court docket, those hearings about arbitration in Valerie Haney’s lawsuit scheduled for January 29 and 30 have been consolidated for January 30.
Mark your calendars. This is going to be a huge early showdown for these lawsuits. If Scientology can get Haney’s lawsuit, arguably the strongest of all three, derailed into “religious arbitration,” then it doesn’t bode well for the other two lawsuits that have been filed, against Scientology and Danny Masterson, and the one filed in Miami alleging a coverup of child sexual assault.
And we have to wonder if some of the other planned big lawsuits still to come will have to be reconsidered if Valerie, with such a strong claim after working directly for David Miscavige for years and being held against her will so that she had to escape a Scientology compound in the trunk of a car, can be removed from court because of the strength of Scientology’s “religious rights.”
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“If anybody ever sends you to jail, by all means, go to Alcatraz. They’re tearing it down. I’m just thinking of the Federal government. Even their prisons are going to pieces. Have you, did you know that? We’ve got to audit those people, that’s all there is to it, you know, because they’re in a violent ARC break. Somebody’s missed an item on the US government. I think, personally, they missed it with a no-auditing situation. We haven’t had any plan for auditing the government. We got one president audited. That was Truman. We ain’t had anybody else audited. Now, I just think they’re suffering from no auditing. Course, so of course, that leaves all items missed. And that’s another way of missing items. But it isn’t to a violent state. Somebody must have missed a list or something on the FDA. They must have. They must have. ‘What crumb are you?’ or something like that, something. ‘What type of insect egg did you come out of?’ You know?” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 15, 1963
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“I have had recollections of running parts of Scientology on other planets. I have no specific recall of LRH being involved. I do not regard such recalls, my own included, as source data for the tech.”
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“You don’t have to go up the Bridge to achieve a position of power in Scientology. All you have to do is be a wily, conniving, ruthless asshole. Just like every other totalitarian organization in history.”
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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] LEAH REMINI WILL AIR EPISODE WITH DANNY MASTERSON’S ACCUSERS ON FEBRUARY 18
[TWO years ago] Joy Villa’s former manager: ‘Scientology destroyed everything’
[THREE years ago] On the ‘Leah Remini’ Reddit special this week: A powerful Texas duo
[FOUR years ago] Explain your vote, judge tells Maryland county that denied Scientology rehab
[FIVE years ago] Scientology takes out full-page ad in the New York Times to attack Alex Gibney
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini talks briefly about Scientology on Access Hollywood, says very little
[SEVEN years ago] Buzzfeed Takes a Close Look at Scientology’s “Ideal Org” Financing
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Get Your Harem On!
[ELEVEN years ago] Jason Beghe to Anonymous: Grow Up
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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 1,818 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,322 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,842 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 862 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 753 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,060 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,928 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,702 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,476 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,822 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,388 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,307 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,475 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,056 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,317 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,355 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,068 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,593 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,120 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,683 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,823 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,143 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,999 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,118 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,473 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,776 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,882 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,284 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,156 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,739 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,234 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,488 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,597 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 15, 2020 at 07:00
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