What it’s like to discover your employer is pushing Scientology on his office

We’ve been telling you for years that Scientology targets dentists, chiropractors, veterinarians and other professionals with management companies that operate as front groups for the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE). Every year we hear about cases where workers object to being forced into Scientology classes by the dentists or chiropractors they work for, and often those cases are successful. As for what it’s like to go through the experience of discovering that the dentist you’re working for is promoting Scientology, we have this stunning account from a woman who asked us not to name her for fear of backlash from Scientology. But we think you’ll enjoy reading her account…

 
In 2012, I was hired to work as a hygienist by a private practice dental office in Kennesaw, Georgia. I was thrilled to work there — close to home, Monday through Thursday, good pay for the first time in my career. I felt as though I had finally made it. When I was hired on, the practice manager (who was also the dentist’s wife) kept driving the point home that a few out-of-town continuing education classes would be mandatory. I didn’t think anything of this, as lots of dental offices take their staff on trips to learn about dental implants, Botox, etc.

For the first few months, things were normal. By month four, we started having mandatory meetings every Tuesday morning where we discussed the Tone Scale, Suppressive Persons, and other stuff that I quickly recognized as Scientology. I started noticing stacks of L. Ron Hubbard books on my dentist’s desk, and other Scientology paraphernalia throughout the office. Shit, I thought, my bosses are part of a cult. I didn’t know what to do, because I didn’t want to be jobless, but I also wanted nothing to do with Scientology. Before long, my bosses called an “emergency meeting” where they explained to us that the next weekend, we would be taking a mandatory office trip to Clearwater, Florida for three days of intensive training. All of us were shocked at the sudden nature of this announcement, and my coworker said that she had her son that weekend, and that she couldn’t change plans on such short notice. My boss explained to her (and the rest of us) that if we were interested in keeping our jobs at that office, we would make all necessary arrangements so that we could go. When he handed us the “learning materials” for this weekend of training, it was clearly a large booklet filled with Scientology nonsense masquerading as dental “education.”

At this point, I was desperate to avoid this trip at all costs. I printed out stacks of anti-Scientology literature, clearly stating that this group was a dangerous cult known for systematic abuse, torture, rape, intimidation, and coercion. I marched into my dentist’s office with all of this literature, and begged him not to make me or any of us go to this “training,” and saying that I cared about him and his wife and I didn’t want them to be abused and sucked dry by this horrible organization. He blew me off completely, saying that I was closed-minded and that my fears were unfounded. He repeated, again, that if I wanted to keep my job, the training was mandatory.

The day that we left for Clearwater I was a mess of anger and nerves. As a final curve ball, the dentist announced that we would all be going together in an SUV he had rented, and that driving our own cars was not permitted. We were essentially trapped with no escape. I did bring my laptop, which was my saving grace. On the way down, my dentist wouldn’t shut up about how we should all be grateful, because this weekend of “training” was costing him a fortune in fees and hotel rooms.

When we finally arrived at the actual seminar, HOLY SHIT. We were led into this large and completely un-marked back alley building with giant tinted windows. When we walked into the lobby, there was a 10-foot tall statue of L. Ron Hubbard, and massive Scientology murals on the wall, as well as row after row of books by Hubbard. A big row of Scientologists in suits greeted my boss by name like he was some celebrity, and swooned over him to an obnoxious level. He grinned from ear to ear and was completely eating it up.

Before they would let us in the classroom, we actually had to sign papers stating that the classes had nothing to do with Scientology, no one had coerced us to come to these classes, and that we were attending these classes of our own free will. I’m not kidding at all. In the actual classroom, there were several hundred dentists with their staff from all over the country, giggling gleefully at the expensive cult bullshit they were about to receive.

I only lasted three hours. It was three hours of pure cultspeak Scientologist bullshit, very little of which had to do with dentistry. From what I gathered, the purpose of these seminars was to teach dentists and staff the same coercion tactics that Scientologists use to recruit new members and get more money out of existing members and then use that information on patients in order to get them to agree to high-priced treatments all at once, and pay for it on Care Credit. Additionally, we heard a hell of a lot about “The Suppressive Persons” or “SP’s” and how these people will ruin a dental office. While the seminar was going on, certain members of the audience were getting picked out for “additional training,” and being brought to private rooms for what I later found out were auditing sessions. HELL FUCKING NO.

Once our team broke for lunch, I told my boss that he needed to take me back to the hotel, where I was going to get a taxi to take me to the airport and find a one-way flight home. I wasn’t going to sit through anymore creepy-ass cult bullshit, and I didn’t care at that point if I lost my job. If Scientology was what he was about, I wanted to be as far from that as possible. He berated me repeatedly, saying that I was so closed-minded and just refused to be properly educated. I found a flight to Atlanta on my laptop, asked the hotel receptionist (also a Scientologist, as she was wearing an “S” symbol badge) to call me a cab, and I was out of there.

The following Monday, my coworkers acted like I had the plague. One of them finally pulled me aside and said that the doctor and his wife had ordered them not to speak to me at all. During that week, they forced me to train my replacement, and then fired me. The separation letter said that they were letting me go because I didn’t “clean teeth in order” and that I was too chatty. The doctor himself told me that I was a Suppressive Person, and had no place in the office.

Until today, very few people know this story, and for good reason. The Church of Scientology is known to use extreme tactics to intimidate, harass, and follow people who it deems as a threat. I had an unmarked black Crown Vic parked outside my house with a person in it for two days straight, staring at my house. I finally called the police at the urging of my dad, and the person left me alone. But that was enough for me to not press charges or pursue legal action.

A few years ago, another dental professional in Bend, Oregon went through an almost identical ordeal with her Scientologist dentist, and was awarded over $300,000 in damages. I still feel as though I made the right choice for me at the time, although I wish I had the courage to be more outspoken about my experience, and urged other dental professionals to recognize the signs before falling into the same trap.

The moral of the story is, if you are a dental (or healthcare, chiropractor, etc.) professional and your prospective employer starts making comments about “mandatory out-of-town training,” I urge you to investigate that further. Or, if something feels off, just be super blunt and say “OK, I have to get this out of the way — is this a Scientology office?” If you are employed and you start noticing your dentist going to Clearwater for a lot of “training,” definitely investigate that further. The Church of Scientology is desperately (and, successfully) trying to recruit dentists and other healthcare professionals to join their ranks and fill their coffers. What starts out as just “training” leads to many dentists becoming full-blown card-carrying Scientologists. So, stay safe. Know the signs. Please share my story with anyone who you think may be in a similar position with their employer.

Scientology is a money-hungry, dangerous and powerful cult that should be avoided at all costs. I hope my story is helpful and sheds some light on one of their lesser-known recruitment tactics. Stay safe out there, friends. Oh, and fuck Scientology.

 
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Today in court: Bixler v. Masterson

Today is the first of several important hearings scheduled in the Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Danny Masterson/Scientology lawsuit happening at the Los Angeles Superior Court. In this hearing, several out-of-state attorneys are asking Judge Steven Kleifield to admit them to the case (“pro hac vice”), which is usually something of a formality. Characteristically, however, Scientology has filed some rather overheated objections to this request in an attempt to keep these high-profile lawyers on the sidelines.

Also, this hearing will deal with Scientology’s motion to quash service of the lawsuit. The church claims that attempts to serve David Miscavige and Scientology itself (through two of its sub-entities) was “fraudulent,” and they’ve asked for sanctions. Bixler’s attorneys have fired back that Scientology is game-playing by pretending that two different addresses for Miscavige aren’t simply two different entrances in the same building. We have documented that the attempt to serve this lawsuit has been fraught with errors, but “fraudulent”? Again, that seems like overheated Scientology rhetoric, and it will be interesting to see how Kleifield handles it.

Also, because the plaintiffs recently filed an amended complaint, we are told that consequently some clocks got set back to zero, and the “demurrers” that Scientology and Masterson filed, which are scheduled to be heard on March 20, will also be moved back to reflect the new time frame. We will be looking to see if the judge acknowledges that today.

We’ll get you a report from the courthouse as soon as we can. Although the hearing is scheduled for 8:30 am Los Angeles time, the judge typically handles other emergent situations in other lawsuits first before handling the Scientology matter. (And wouldn’t you, too?)

 
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Ask a Scientologist!

Here’s a question that came in to askascientologist@tonyortega.org, and we thought Mat Pesch might be the best person to answer it. If you have a question for one of our many experts, please send it in!

If Scientology promises its members powers to affect the material world, what is the justification for fundraising for material items like building and books? Why bother with donations if you can conjure things into existence?

I never met a Scientologist who thought they could, or expected some other Scientologist to be able to, just conjure into existence some material object like a coin, a rock, a flower, etc. I know that Hubbard made (and sold) thousands of lectures where he rambles on about all sorts of hypothetical concepts as if they are fact. I have tried to study them in detail and found them to have little to no application value in the real world. I think most Scientologists just hope that it will make sense to them when they achieve some higher level of Scientology. I think many people have had experiences where they perceived someone died or was about to call them or they were able to locate someone or something in an unexplained way. They believe that there are spiritual and mental possibilities that they don’t understand, that they would like to know more about and develop. I think it is that sort of thing, along with the promise of being able to recall past lives, operate outside one’s body, etc, that draws people further into Scientology. Someone can argue whether they actually recalled past lives. I think it is interesting that on the original released version of OT 8, Hubbard said that none of the past lives that the OT 8s had recalled were actually them. He said that now that you know who you are not, you are ready to find out who you really are. The sad joke is that there were no further OT levels. Hundreds of thousands of dollars later and it’s a dead end. The person is left with the question of who they really are, which is probably one, if not the, main question they came to Scientology to get answered. I did meet a handful of people who claimed to be able to operate outside their body. As I got to know them better, it became obvious that they were nuts. As far as Scientology helping to expand one’s spiritual and mental abilities, I would personally rate it as very disappointing. In Scientology, it’s MONEY that is god and is worshiped. That, I found to be true.

— Mat Pesch

 
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Source Code

“I might as well tell you why the foundation at 211 West Douglas just went out of the processing business entirely and is teaching as few students as possible and at this late date is going into research. I’m not quite sure what they’re going to research, but they’re just going into research and so I, this leaves as official entities in the field the HDAs in the field, the affiliates, that is to say the college associates, a professional school in Wichita, and whatever unit is here as far as the lineups are concerned, and of course this foundation. OK? This by the way is a big load off my mind because I’ve been wondering which way those people were going to jump, and sometimes suicides jump the wrong way. And all they seem to have gotten me for so far is to tell the income tax people that I’m vastly out of order on my income tax, so the income tax people are coming down. Do we have anybody around town who’s awfully good on income tax? Well, they wouldn’t let me look at any of the ’51 books, so I don’t know what income they’ve got written down. And they wiped out all my income just before income tax time, so I don’t know, I mean, I wrote the collector of internal revenue about a year ago and I said, ‘God, I’m confused.’ And he never replied, so I guess he is too….What do you know? Well we’ve got to make a couple of theta clears quick and wreck these income tax people right quick.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 11, 1952

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“For all practical intents and purposes, we are the only Creator there is to be found in any known space or non-space. I take pride to know that we, collectively and individually, are our own known working masters and it is we that are learning to exert positive control over all of life and matter, and otherwise, I don’t see anything else happening any time soon if ever….You want a new planet, build it. You want a new star, build one. You want peace on Earth, make it happen.”

 
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Random Howdy

“You people’s humanity is rubbing off on me and it’s making me unstable.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Jay Spina: Sentencing set for April 3 in White Plains
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members: Trial set for April 14 in Los Angeles

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Waiting for an appellate decision from the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Hearing on motion for reconsideration set for April 16
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology: March 11 (plaintiff attorneys pro hac vice, defense motions to quash), March 20 (demurrers by Masterson and Scientology), March 27 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe’s attorneys have asked for discovery, March 19 depositions (Warren McShane, Lynn Farny), April 20 hearing set (motion to compel arbitration)
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Oral arguments on March 11 in Jacksonville
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Complaint filed.

 
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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] New government docs show Scientology trying to snow the Justice Dept after Snow White
[TWO years ago] Scientology TV goes live tomorrow at 8 pm Eastern on app, DirecTV
[THREE years ago] Source: Scientology made Danny Masterson’s Victim B search past lives to explain being raped
[FOUR years ago] Belgian judge throws entire case against Scientology out of court on technicality
[FIVE years ago] The ‘Going Clear’ screening in Austin, featuring Marty Rathbun and other familiar faces
[SIX years ago] Judge in Laura DeCrescenzo’s case retires, Scientology objects to his replacement
[SEVEN years ago] LEAKED: Scripts Spell Out How Scientology Directs the Unsuspecting to Its Rehab Network
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Countdown to LRH’s Birthday!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 11, 2020 at 07:00

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