Scientology: Valerie Haney has no choice but to submit to the church’s authority

 
On Thursday, we told you that Valerie Haney’s attorneys submitted a 5-page declaration to prepare the new judge in her case for this Friday’s hearing. At that hearing, both sides will be explaining to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer why, more than two years after her predecessor Judge Richard Burdge forced Valerie’s lawsuit into Scientology’s own brand of “religious arbitration,” no progress has been made toward that goal.

We learned that Valerie had made yet another attempt to overturn Burdge’s January 30, 2020 ruling, this time with another petition to an appeals court, California’s 2nd Appellate Division. Valerie had hoped that the court would reconsider Burdge’s ruling in light of the stunning January decision that the same appeals court made to overturn a similar arbitration motion in the Bixler lawsuit, brought by Danny Masterson’s accusers. The court denied Valerie’s petition by agreeing with Scientology’s attorneys that Valerie could not rely on the Bixler decision because it was not formally published. But Valerie’s attorneys were encouraged that the division’s presiding justice, Laurence Rubin, included a note pointing out that although the Bixler decision is unpublished, that didn’t prevent a court from considering its arguments.

Valerie’s attorneys are obviously hoping that Judge Killefer takes the hint and thinks about relying on the Bixler arguments to reconsider Burdge’s ruling that denied Valerie a right to trial.

In the meantime they are also telling Judge Killefer that Scientology has made it impossible for Valerie to make any progress toward starting an arbitration because the church refuses to communicate with her through her attorneys, insisting that Valerie go hat in hand to Scientology’s “International Justice Chief” Mike Ellis.

Valerie has said she considers Scientology her abuser, and she has no interest in communicating with the church any longer after her frightening escape from Int Base that she managed by hiding in the trunk of a car. After that, she alleges, she went through years of stalking and harassment when she went to work for Leah Remini and appeared on Remini’s A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath.

As we pointed out last time, we are curious to see if the new judge, Gail Killefer, will order that Valerie has to personally submit to Scientology’s officers, and that she can’t be represented by counsel.

Now, Scientology has provided its own answer to that question, and it has doubled down on its previous response: Yes, Valerie Haney has no choice but to submit to the church, and to do so personally.

“Plaintiff and her counsel have been informed multiple times, through written correspondence and in open court, what can be done to ‘advance the ball towards completing’ the religious arbitration: specifically, commencing the arbitration by sending a written demand for arbitration to the International Justice Chief, Mike Ellis,” Scientology attorney William Forman writes in the church’s response.

Forman cites the language of the contract that Valerie signed, and also the statement by Judge Burdge himself, who at a February 2, 2021 hearing said, “Plaintiff needs to commence arbitration pursuant to the terms of the agreement Plaintiff has signed.”

Forman writes that he has pointed this out to Valerie’s attorneys numerous times. Judge Burdge decided that a contract was a contract, and the contract calls for Valerie to write to Ellis, not that her attorneys could do it for her.

“The arguments and excuses offered by the Thompson Declaration are mere posturing,” Forman writes.

And Forman complains that once again it’s Valerie’s attorneys that the court is hearing from, not Valerie herself.

“Notably absent from the submission to this Court in anticipation of the order to show cause re dismissal hearing is: (1) any statement from Plaintiff stating that she does not know how to commence the arbitration or its procedures and (2) most importantly, any statement from Plaintiff that she wishes to pursue her claims in the arbitral forum,” he writes.

“If Plaintiff does not wish to pursue her claims in arbitration, she should dismiss this case.”

Forman also raps Haney’s lawyer Robert Thompson on the knuckles, saying that he didn’t even bother to show up for the last two hearings in this case, on August 8, 2021 and on March 15, 2022.

And finally, Forman says that despite what Presiding Justice Rubin said about the Bixler ruling, Judge Killefer is not in a position to reconsider Judge Burdge’s order.

Judge Burdge may have moved to another courthouse, but any reconsideration of his ruling would need to be done by him, not Judge Killefer, Forman says.

In the only previous example of a lawsuit being derailed for Scientology arbitration, the fraud lawsuit filed by Luis and Rocio Garcia, the Garcias ultimately submitted to the IJC and attended an arbitration hearing in Los Angeles in 2017. Luis later complained that they were not allowed to have attorneys with them, there was no transcript recorded, and 90 percent of the evidence they had brought with them was disallowed by the IJC. The entire thing was a farce, Luis said.

So far, Valerie Haney has shown no interest in taking part in such a procedure and submitting to the people she considers her abusers. It will be interesting Friday to see what the new judge says about it.

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

More good news from Michigan!

 
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Today’s Scientology happy news. Yes, an excerpt from an actual press release put out by the church this week.

Going to school for the first time means everything to 70 orphaned children in Wanga Parish, Uganda. These are children who lost their parents to recent flooding or disease.

Local Volunteer Ministers have made this dream come true by opening a new orphanage. The community turned out to join the celebration.

For many children, this is the first time they’ve had a bed of their own, not to mention sheets, blankets and other personal items. All nursery-age children received a uniform, shoes, bags and school materials.

In nearby Bubilabi, another team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers is working with orphans providing them food, clothing and an education.

Advertisement

Scientology Volunteer Minister groups in Uganda are forming up and putting new members through the 19 Volunteer Minister online Tools for Life Courses. These provide them with the skills they need to address the most urgent issues in their country, one of which is the plight of the estimated 2 million orphans.

After studying these courses, the new Volunteer Ministers are far better equipped to reach out to others with help.

 
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A note from the Proprietor

Yesterday, we got into the comments to explain why things are changing here at the Underground Bunker. The explanation is simple: We’ve been working for a decade at below minimum wage, and we owe it to our family to try something different. Recently, we had a discussion with Substack’s CEO, Chris Best, and he convinced us that his emerging platform is perhaps our best bet for making Internet journalism actually pay a living wage. As a result, we’ve removed the daily feature story from this website and put it on our new Substack, tonyortega.substack.com.

This website, tonyortega.org, will never require payment to read. And we will continue to look for ways to bolster its content beyond the daily feature story. At Substack, subscription is free and will continue to be for now. Eventually, it will require a paid subscription to read some stories. We owe it to our family to explore this option. If you do not want to subscribe to Substack, or if you cannot add another subscription on your budget, we will understand. Tonyortega.org, this website, will continue to be free to read, and we hope it will remain a nexus for people seeking Scientology news and discussion.

— Tony Ortega

 
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Source Code

“If we weren’t here, the lights of Earth’s civilization would be out in another 25 years. And people know who is sitting, baying at them. But you see the great ease it would be to scoop me up, or shoot me down or do something to me. You might ask, why is it that this has never really happened? It’s come close to happening a couple of times. There’s been an airplane out on a landing field warming up, waiting to kidnap me, and a couple of hoods standing by, real tough mugs. Only they couldn’t handle a .45, and I could. This in the confines of Los Angeles. The war cooled off, as far as I was concerned, many, many years ago, and I don’t expect it to hot up at all. I don’t even bother to lock the doors. And it’s not case as far as I’m concerned. I’m just pointing that out to you as a matter of record. Because if I had a men, number of overts here, or if I had a bugginess going here, the attack on you and the attack on me would be fantastic. But you see, if you haven’t got tremendous motivators, they can’t get a big enough overt going against you, because you just don’t suck it in, that’s all. You see? And that mechanism alone is why we’re still alive. ” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 21, 1961

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“MONEY: If somebody gets on money collection we’ll maybe someday have some upper level bonuses. AUDITOR C/S BONUSES are not cancelled. The w.d. hours and the completion bonsues are paid. Qual Internes are not paid bonuses but will draw SO pay when their 25 hours are made in a week. The bonus B of I is sort of up in the air. The 20% does cover these and B bonuses. Somebody tried to pay me my full bonus when no one else was eligible. I’m sending it back. Total Bonus has to be covered by 20% of the GI before C D E bonuses can be paid. The ‘postulate checks’ got in our hair on this. Anyhow, get the stats up and we’ll soon have some new FEBCs out who will pay their bills! It’s not as it says on the GF, All Black. There’s lots of F/N VGIs around this lovely new tech in auditing and supervising and the eventual prospect of an OT crew.” — The Commodore, June 21, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Almost every day I audit and all I get are wins and more wins and it is thanks to Ron! I have PCs asking ‘why isn’t everyone doing this?’ Those who INSIST on invalidating Ron and the tech have nasty evil intentions.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: The following LRH excerpt was posted from The Phoenix Lectures at ars this week. “Now here is the most fundamental fundamental that there can be fundamental below the level of consideration. I haven’t written very much about considerations. There really isn’t very much to say about the subject of consideration. If anyone is confused on the subject it is because consideration is consideration so that if you consider something which is considerable, why — you have considered it.”

 
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Random Howdy

“You cannot detox addicts NON-MEDICALLY. It is INSANE, SADISTIC, and DANGEROUS.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference June 30. Trial scheduled for October 11.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Readiness hearing scheduled for August 22 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court.
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie’s motion for reconsideration denied on March 15.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Next hearing scheduled for June 29.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

 
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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, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

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] If you ever wondered what Suri Cruise might be like if she had never left Scientology
[TWO years ago] What are Scientologists being told about the Danny Masterson rape case?
[THREE years ago] Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, ‘Provost Marshal’: Another apologist claim debunked
[FOUR years ago] Opportunity missed: What Erika Christensen should have been asked about Scientology
[FIVE years ago] Source: Scientology ship avoiding Dutch waters after evading surprise government search
[SIX years ago] Nearly four years after Stacy Murphy’s death, Scientology files motion to kill much of lawsuit
[SEVEN years ago] ‘Book ’em, Danno’: Just for fun, L. Ron Hubbard’s fingerprints, revealed!
[EIGHT years ago] Ryan Hamilton files lawsuit 14 against Scientology’s drug rehab, and other updates
[NINE years ago] In His New Book, Is Neil Gaiman Exorcising His Scientology Past?
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology “Goons” Rough Up Aussie TV Journos (Video)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 21, 2022 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), 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