Former Copenhagen staff member Karsten J. Lorenzen traveled to Florida to give testimony in the Lisa McPherson case. Story by Tom Tobin, December 5, 1998.
CLEARWATER — A former Scientologist from Denmark said Friday that he helped force bread, fruit and liquids into the throat of an unconscious woman as part of an effort help her recover from a mental breakdown.
Karsten Lorenzen’s detailed account at a news conference held by a group of Scientology critics resembles the experience of Lisa McPherson, as documented by state investigators and Clearwater police. McPherson was the 36-year-old Scientologist whose 1995 death has resulted in criminal charges of abuse and practicing medicine without a license against the Church of Scientology in Clearwater.
McPherson, too, was recovering from a mental breakdown, and records show church staffers forced medicine and food into her throat. . .
Lorenzen, 23, also told his story this week in several hours of sworn depositions in the wrongful death lawsuit that McPherson’s family filed in Tampa against the church. Lorenzen said the woman was a Scientology staffer who became mentally unstable in May 1996 while training in Clearwater. He said she cut her wrists and was escorted back to Denmark by one of the same church staffers — Valerie Demange — who participated in McPherson’s care six months earlier. The woman was taken to a Scientologist’s apartment north of Copenhagen, Lorenzen said. One morning during the four-day episode, he said, the woman would not wake up. Demange called a supervisor, who advised them to feed the woman, he said.
Lorenzen said he propped up the woman, sat behind her and reached forward to move her jaw in chewing motions while Demange placed food in the woman’s mouth.
He said he also massaged her throat to get her to swallow. He said the woman remained unconscious but was coughing and spitting. The meal consisted of two pieces of bread, a banana, orange juice and a glass of “Cal-Mag,” a drink of calcium gluconate, magnesium carbonate, cider vinegar and water that Scientologists believe is healthful.
Lorenzen said he has nightmares about the incident and thinks of it when he sees pictures of McPherson.
As I have always maintained: Show me a place where the ugly snout of Scientology has raised its head and I will show you the lawsuits and scandals to prove it. Here is another one, this time by Mark Lewandowski. The greedy cult of Scientology would rather chew off a members arm rather than return money. So payments like this, plus the attorney fees, really make the squeal.
Tampa Tribune Pinellas North, May 1 1991
“Church settles lawsuit:Settlement terms not disclosed” by Pat Dunnigan
CLEARWATER – The Church of Scientology has settled its lawsuit with a Michigan man who said church representatives pressured him into paying more than $13,000 for services, church attorney Paul B.Johnson said Tuesday.
Mark Lweandowski said in the lawsuit that church representatives interrogated him for more than four hours in December 1989 and wouldn’t let him leave until he agreed to pay $2,000 for a lifetime church membership.
He was seeking to have that money – and subsequent payments of $6,000, $2,200 and $3,100 – returned. He claimed the money was obtained from him through “the use of fraud, duress and misrepresentation.”
Johnson declined to discuss the allegations in the lawsuit and said he was prohibited by the settlement agreement from discussing its terms.
“This thing has been resolved… and that’s really all I can tell you,” Johnson said. “All sides are happy with it.”
Barry Glenn, a Palm Harbor attorney who represented Lewandowski, said the settlement was strictly “monetary,” but also said he could not discuss specifics. “Let’s put it this way. It had a happy ending,” he said.
Allegations such as those contained in the lawsuit are nothing new for the Church of Scientology, which has its spiritual headquarters in Clearwater’s Fort Harrison Hotel. The church claims to lead its members to more fulfilling lives through an expensive system of counseling said to rid participants of past traumas buried in their psyches.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court in February, Lewandowski was promised “spiritual immortality” in exchange for his membership fee.
Church representatives also tried to take Lewandowski’s credit card and allowed him to leave only after he signed several checks – supplied by the church – authorizing withdrawal of funds from his checking account, the lawsuit said.
Lewandowski notified the church shortly afterward that he didn’t want to be a member and never received any church services, the lawsuit states.
Recently the series “South Park” has been in the news because Scientology wanted to visit retribution on him for spilling the truth about OT III on one of their episodes.
I have decided to add to this another case that was covered in the same article. This is of a mother who is suing Scientology for money paid in by her son who died at Flag. I have been unable to find out more although it has been asserted that it was a suicide.
Maria Echavarria’s complaint, set for a hearing on May 21, seeks only to collect a refund for services her son did not receive and does not make allegations of coercion or fraud. But Glenn, who is handling Echavarria’s case as well, says that could change if she is unable to get the money she feels she is owned .
“If not, we may very well amend our complaint to include other allegations,” he said.
Two other lawsuits against the church of Scientology have been set for hearings this month, court records show.
In one, American TV& Appliance Rental is seeking more than $71,000 it claims to be owed for office furniture sold and delivered to the church in June 1990. A hearing on the church’s motion to dismiss the complaint is scheduled for May 23. A second collection lawsuit, filed last month by Aaron Rents, Inc. claims the church owes more than $48,000 for furniture rented under a number of contracts
dating back to 1985. A hearing in the case is scheduled for May 28.
Here is an old list of lawsuits that is very incomplete yet there are 146 cases listed. If you listed the ones in other countries, especially in the UK and Canada, there would be thousands. http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/legal.htm
There are no shortage of people who work hard to revise the history of Scientology to suit their own particular viewpoint. This has been going on for decades. To hear some of these folks talk you would think that the evils like the RPF or disconnection was something that hardly existed before David Miscavige arrived on the scene. Such claims can be refuted if you are willing to do a bit of digging. disconnection is a case in point. This practice has been much reprobated in the press in recent years as the terrible practice got more attention. But it is Nothing New ! The story below is a telling one that illustrates this point. Keep in mind however that in 1968 the cult was growing by leaps and bounds; those days are long over thank goodness. The cult now struggles to get new members.
Modern Mechanix
November, 1968
“A True-Life Nightmare”
by Alan Levy.
Scientology: A growing cult reaches dangerously into the mind
The lights in the hall go dim, leaving the bronzed bust of the Founder (spotlighted) at center stage. From the loudspeakers comes L. Ron Hubbard’s voice, deep and professorial. It is a tape called “Some Aspects of Help, Part I,” a basic lecture in Scientology that Hubbard recorded nearly 10 years ago.
No one in the intensely respectful Los Angeles audience of 500, some of whom paid as much as $16 to get in. I thought it odd to be sitting there listening to the disembodied voice. Among believers, Scientology and its Founder are beyond frivolous question: Scientology is the Truth, it is the path to “a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war . . .” and “for the first time in all ages there is something that . . . delivers the answers to the eternal questions and delivers immortality as well.”
So much of a credo might be regarded as harmless, practically indistinguishable from any number of minority schemes for the improvement of Man. But Scientology is scary because of its size and growth, and because of the potentially disastrous techniques it so casually makes use of. To attain the Truth, a surrenders himself to “auditing,” a crude form of psychoanalysis. In the best medical circumstances this is a delicate procedure, but in Scientology it is undertaken by an “auditor” who is simply another Scientologist in training, who uses an “E-meter,” which resembles a lie detector. A government report, made to the parliament of the state of Victoria in Australia three years ago, called Scientology “the world’s largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy.” As author Alan Levy found out by personal experience (pages 100B-114), the auditing experience can be shattering.
How many souls have become hooked on Scientology is impossible to say precisely. Worldwide membership England, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the U.S. is probably between two and three million. In the U.S. (offices in Washington, New York, Los Angeles and seven other cities), the figure may now be more than several hundred thousand. What is astonishing and frightening is the rate of growth in the U.S.: membership has probably tripled or quadrupled in the past three years.
Recruits to Scientology are most often young, intelligent and idealistic. They become fanatics on the subject, impervious to argument, quick to cut themselves off from doubters. Many young people have been instructed by their Scientology organizations (“orgs,” they are called) to “disconnect” from their families. “Disconnect” means exactly that: sever all relations. Such estrangements can be deep and lasting, leaving heartsick parents no longer able to speak rationally with their children.
Scientology is expensive. To reach the first meaningful stage costs the beginner $650 in tuition. To become an Operating Thetan, Class VIII – the highest present classification can raise the all-in cost (books, tuition, equipment, board and lodging at Scientology centers during advanced training) to as much as $15,000. The high costs have the effect of turning many young Scientologists into permanent parts of the apparatus. To finance their own advanced studies they take low-paying jobs within the org and in the end find themselves alienated from life outside of Scientology.
Scientology is nominally a religion, and the figure of Hubbard has taken on religious implications. The Nebraska-born author of the 1950 best-seller Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health is now adored and remote. The literature hints at persecution. In 1963 agents of the Food and Drug Administration raided Scientology’s Washington headquarters and seized a number of E-meters. Scientologists still speak of the raid on the “church.” Scientology has been banned from the state of Victoria in Australia. In England, where Hubbard established the world headquarters of Scientology at Saint Hill, the government has looked with increasing disfavor on Scientology. Asserting that Scientology is “socially harmful,” the government recently barred from entry a number of would-be participants in a world Scientology congress. Hubbard himself departed from England in the summer of 1966 and now lives on a 320-foot converted passenger ferry called the Royal Scot Man, cruising mostly between ports in the Mediterranean. There, although he claims to have given up his official ties with Saint Hill, he continues to train and send out super-Scientologists to all parts of the world.
An exploring writer becomes personally involved ‘A TRUE-LIFE NIGHTMARE’ by ALAN LEVY
Scientology’s Sea Borg, we will assimilate your bank account. Resistance is futile.
There are a number of themes common to those who are members of Scientology’s paramilitary “Sea Org,” that should be renamed the “Sales Org,” as their prime duty is to extract money from the public members. These themes include overwork and hours on the job taken to the point of absurdity, miserable pay, almost never and medical or dental care and no time off for vacation or holidays. Forget seeing your family, clearing the planet of their bank accounts is much more important as former Scientologist Susan Lentsch found out. The promises of Scientology as regards time off are simply lies that they never seem to tire of repeating.
Source: Operation Clambake Message Board
Date:September 3, 2008 I am sure you are aware that on the 11th of March, 2008, I issued a press release entitled “Mother Bear Defends Cub”. This release detailed my efforts to bring my daughter, Katherine, home for a vacation with her family. During the fifteen years that my daughter has been a member of the Church of Scientology’s Sea Organization, she had only come home for one three day visit in 1996 – cut short by the Church due to some “emergency”.
When I allowed my daughter, then a minor, to join the Sea Organization, I was told that Sea Organization Members are allowed three weeks holiday per year. In fact, it is stated in the contract that Katherine signed in 1993: “2. HOLIDAYS: ‘…three (3) weeks per continuous active year for Sea Org Members’.” This has never happened.
During Christmas of 2004, Katherine was denied permission to attend a family reunion in Minnesota, with relatives she has not seen in many years, some of which she has not seen since childhood. After the travel reservations had been made and tickets purchased, Katherine informed me that she was not able to go. To somehow include Katherine in the reunion, she was put on the speaker phone to wish both grandparents a Merry Christmas. She was sobbing and apologizing for not being able to be with them.
I have tried to be patient with the Church. I have had no objection to Katherine following her religious principles and beliefs and have not objected to her work for the Church of Scientology. But I have objected to the continuing and systematic isolation of Katherine from her family. Katherine and I have enthusiastically discussed vacation plans many times, with no plans ever coming to fruition. My calls with Kate have become less and less frequent, and at times, I find myself talking to her on a speaker phone, with others present in the room who do not identify themselves. My daughter sounds less and less herself and more and more “coached” and cautious in her responses.
To deny my daughter normal communication with me, and the opportunity for vacation time with her family, is unconscionable. Last March, I reached the end of my tether, and issued a press release about the situation. I issued an ultimatum: “Have my daughter at home in my living room within two weeks, or I will go to law enforcement and the media.”
As a result of this ultimatum, a hurried meeting was arranged between myself and my daughter. I flew down to Los Angeles and met my daughter and her Office of Special Affairs “handler,” a woman named Beth, at the J. Paul Getty Museum. It was wonderful to see my daughter, and Katherine and I hugged and cried together. Katherine bought postcards from the museum store, wrote notes on the back of them, and gave them to me:
“Dear Mom,
These postcards are to remind you of our day together, to remind you we will always be in communication, no matter the distance, to remind you that you raised a happy, healthy, contributive person, to remind you that I will visit you, to remind you that I love you!
All M’ Love, Katherine”
Katherine promised me that she would come soon for a vacation. Her handler also promised me that it would absolutely be worked out so Katherine could come and visit us in Portland. She seemed sincere. I felt reassured.
On April 30th Katherine informed me that she was going to do a “special program”, and that I would not be able to talk to her until the program was completed. Katherine told me that I could speak with Beth while this program was in progress. I asked what kind of program it was, but Katherine and Beth refused to say. The program, which was supposed to take four or five weeks, is still not completed.
It is now four months later, and we are no closer to Katherine visiting than we were in March. My own vacation came and went. My birthday came and went. No Katherine. On my birthday, I received flowers from Katherine, followed by a phone call not from Katherine, but from her OSA handler Beth, asking if I had received the flowers. Beth wished me a Happy Birthday.
In August, Katherine reached the point in her program where she was allowed to speak with me. The last time I talked to my daughter was mid-August. My daughter was not her spontaneous, loving self, but sounded strained and stiff. She expressed concern, that because I am no longer in Scientology, that I do not approve of what she is doing with her life as a Scientology staff member. She asked me to send her any critical things I had been reading about the Church, (so she could “handle” me on each one of these). This would have to be done, she said, before she could come and see me.
This is ridiculous. In the first place, I have no intention of spending our valuable vacation time with my daughter arguing about religion. I have always respected her decision to follow Scientology. As you know, I am myself a former Scientologist. I left the Church for my own reasons, as is my right. That my daughter and I have chosen different religious paths is of no consequence to anyone, and, frankly, is no business of the Church of Scientology. Many parents and children disagree on religious matters, or political matters, or a host of other things. It does not affect their love and respect for each other, and is no reason to forbid connection between them.
Scientology preaches that communication is the “universal solvent” and will resolve anything. Yet in this case, that sentiment is not being applied. Communication is being denied. Do you seriously think that Katherine’s faith is so fragile that the slightest contact with any criticism of Scientology will shatter it? If so, then you have less faith in Katherine’s intelligence and strength than I do.
You want to know what my main criticism of the Church of Scientology is? That they have isolated me from my own daughter and made it impossible for me to maintain the close and loving relationship that both Katherine and I desire. That is my objection. How can I be “handled” on this objection? Easy. Grant Katherine her well-earned three week leave to see her family. Is that so hard?
I never, ever thought I would have to sacrifice my relationship with my daughter over religious differences. Many, many families across the world have differences with their choices of religions and political ideologies. A loving family does not let these differences impede their relationships with each other.
You, yourself, have denied publicly that Scientology disconnects families. In your press release of 14 January of this year, you stated that “…most family members of Scientologists are themselves not Scientologists. And yet, as any one of millions of Scientologists would have told Morton if he had asked, they maintain a loving relationship with their families. Indeed, the Church always counsels to mend any and every familial upset – whether between Scientologists or those of another faith.”
Nice words. A wonderful, politically correct sentiment. But the question is, Ms. Pouw, are you actually willing to stand by those words? Are you willing to put them into action? Are you, as a Scientologist, willing to factually practice what you so eloquently preach?
I am still waiting for my daughter’s arrival in Portland for the vacation that she and I have been promised.
The Church claims that its senior policy is to deliver what is promised.
At long last, will you?
Sincerely,
Susan Lentsch
PS: I am mailing a copy of this letter to my daughter so she can read and understand how I feel. I will be checking with her to make sure she personally received it.
One of the reasons that the Sea Org is so abusive to their members is that the man at the top is a sadist and a complete nut job.
I lifted the following from Marty Rathbun’s blog. It really strains human credulity to think of human rights and Scientology being in the same sentence. This is a prime example about the work that is yet to be done educating the public concerning this predatory and paramilitary group. I wish I lived closer because I would sure as hell picket this meeting if I did. Here is the link to the post:http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/wake-up-time-for-the-white-house/
Know Your Human Rights!
You are invited to an evening discussion
on human rights featuring:
Kareem W. Shora, Senior Policy Advisor
Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles
speaking on the impact of human trafficking
Senator Maralyn Chase
on the importance of educating
our children on civil rights.
AND
Scientology’s Human Rights Campaign!
This event is sponsored by the Church of Scientology on
Wednesday, October 26th at 300 W. Harrison St.
Reception starts at 6 pm. Program starts at 7 pm.
For more information, contact Ann at 206-284-0604.
Hank Levin gave this history of why he quit Scientology to FACT Net some years ago. As far as greed goes nothing has changed. They are as aggressive as ever when it comes to getting money out of victims.
September 4, 1989
In the late seventies, I paid the Church of Scientology approximately $4000 in advance for “NOTS”, to be delivered at the Advanced Organization in Clearwater, Florida. At this time, my wife and myself had at least $17,000 on account as advanced payments with the Church. When I arrived at Clearwater, the registrar asked if I’d be able to afford additional funds in the unlikely event that they might be necessary for “special repair actions” I confided that I did have some personal reserves invested in precious metals. Even though I was scheduled to begin “auditing”within the hour, I was suddenly told that the “Case Supervisor” had decided not to permit me to begin unless I paid in advance for additional “auditing” to the amount of my personal reserve savings mentioned above. I petitioned all the way up to the “Commanding Officer” of Sea Organization, pointing out that I had been promised I could begin with the $4000 payment and had already paid for plane fare out from my home in Los Angeles, and to cash in my assets would require personally returning to L.A. and wasting double the plane fare. They were adamant in their insistence. I returned to L.A. and sold the gold at a substantial loss andsent them the money. But I insisted this time that I wanted a written promise that the Church’s”Senior Policy” would be followed (“Always deliver what you promise”) and that I would not be again refused service without warning. The promise never came, although I was told it had been sent. I began to tell them I was having a change of heart and was considering asking for a refund. (To actually ask for a refund would get me excommunicated.) The promise then came in the form of a telex, which I found (based on the Western Union coded data) had a falsified date. I then discovered that the staff was telling people that I had been sent back to Los Angeles because I had failed to get “Ethics Clearance”. This was a lie, because I still have the routing form which has my ethics clearance signed off. I then told them I wanted my money back–more to get their attention than to sever my ties with the organization, which I still regarded as too valuable to do without. “Chaplain Worldwide” Robert Harvey phoned me to persuade me to withdraw my request for refund. He actually confided to me that the order preventing me from starting my service had indeed not come from the Case Supervisor, but from the registrars to get my additional funds they knew about. I then realized, in view of the fact that this order had been upheld all the way to the top, that I was dealing with a criminal organization. I then formally in writing demanded a refund of all my advanced payments totaling approximately $17,000.
I was given endless runaround and innumerable people to talk to. I finally began a dialogue with Heber Jentzch, the nominal head of Scientology in the U.S. After much frustration, I got him to admit that the actual Church “policy” (as opposed to the publicly stated policy) was to refund money only in the face of a serious legal threat. I accordingly documented to Heber that I was in communication with the staff of the TV program “60 Minutes”, at which point the money was returned to me in full.
I consider myself lucky. I know people who are still owed comparable sums for undelivered services. These situations must be publicized so people can evaluate whom they are trusting their money with and whom they are trusting to help them.
This looks like a good spot to put this video I found of Jeff Hawkins telling about his time in the cult.
She fought Scientology for the child they wanted to abort.
By Thomas C. Tobin And Joe Childs, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Monday, June 14, 2010
[This story combines two people, Natalie Hagemo and her daughter, Shelby LaFreniere. The theme about forced abortions within the Sea Org is a common one, so is disconnection. Yet each case shows the misery that Scientology can cause once it gets a toe-hold in a person’s mind.]
Twenty years ago, when Natalie Hagemo was 19, pregnant and working for the Church of Scientology, she couldn’t wait to be a mother.
She was near the end of her first trimester, she says, when colleagues in Scientology’s military-style religious order, the Sea Organization, began pressuring her to get an abortion.
Two high-ranking officers said terminating the pregnancy would allow her to keep working. They berated her when she said no.
Supervisors told her to hide her expanding belly lest co-workers start thinking it was acceptable to get pregnant. Friends and colleagues shunned her.
Hagemo stood fast and, with her husband at her side, delivered Shelby on Aug. 20, 1990.
Hagemo left the Sea Org but remained an active parishioner and raised her daughter as a Scientologist.
When Shelby was 14, a recruiter came by the local church and signed her up to serve in the Sea Org for a billion years. Hagemo put aside her doubts and allowed it, figuring her daughter would want to come home soon.
A week or so later, Shelby called home in tears, wanting out. Hagemo called a church supervisor to discuss the discharge procedure. She remembers his anger:
You have no say in this. How dare you interfere. You are suppressive.
For a billion years of regret join the Sea Borg today.
This case involves the usual financial chicanery of Scientology when it comes to money matters. They fleeced this former SO member for every cent they could get and when he smartened up and demanded his money back they played hardball with him. The lust for money in Scientology knows no rational bounds. They will promise you anything in order to get your credit and bank account. Keeping those promises is something the cult is not so good at. In this case Andrew Lee sued them, they settled and agreed to pay him in monly instalments which they then didn’t make so he had to sue them again. ANDREW LEE
Plaintiff,
v.
CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY,
DOES I THROUGH X, inclusive Defendants
NO. 935411
COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING, FRAUD AND CONSPIRACY, BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY, ATTORNEY’S FEES.
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
1. Plaintiff ANDREW LEE is a residents of this city and county of San Francisco. 2. Defendant CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY has its principal place of business in San Francisco, California. 3. Plaintiff is ignorant of the true names and capacities of Defendants sued herein as DOES I through X inclusive and therefore sue these Defendants by such fictitious names. Plaintiff will amend this complaint to allege their true names and capacities when ascertained. Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon alleges that each of these fictitiously named Defendants is responsible in some manner for the occurrences herein alleged, and that Plaintiffs’ damages as herein alleged were proximately caused by their conduct. 4. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereupon allege that each Defendant is the agent, servant, and/or employee of each other Defendant, and that in so doing the things hereinafter alleged, each Defendant was acting in the cause and scope of said Defendant’s agency and employment. FACTS 4. On or about May 1989, Plaintiff contracted with Defendant for the receipt of services from Defendant to consist of a training course. Plaintiff paid Defendant $6,000 for said services and commenced a course in June 1989. During the training course, Plaintiff was given the impression that Defendant was a “good, clean outfit” and was induced to work for Defendant, discovering during the last week of July that he would be paid $30 to $50 a week. 5. Plaintiff was further influenced to pay $9,000 for training materials on July 30, 1989 and $15,000 for processing during the second week of August. After receiving some processing Plaintiff paid an additional $12,000 to complete said processing and to “go clear”, a desired state among scientologists. He also was induced to promise to pay an additional $5,000 at a later date. 6. On or about August 1989, Plaintiff submitted a written request for official work leave from Defendant. As a result of this request Plaintiff was submitted to a “security check” which was designed to insure that he was aware of any overt acts he committed 2 against scientology and not commit any overt acts in the against scientology in the future. 7. Prior to leaving, Plaintiff decided to attempt to obtain the return of the money kept in “his” account with Defendant. Plaintiff was persuaded by Defendant to remain with Defendant and refused to tell him was he needed to do to get his money back. 8. Plaintiff was allowed to be “routed off” or not work for Defendant but was persuaded to do “conditions” which resulted in his staying with scientology. Plaintiff was then induced to join SEA ORG during the second week in September. SEA ORG is a part of Defendant, with a goal of promoting “ethics” throughout the world. 9. Plaintiff was persuaded not to inform his family of his involvement with Defendant. 10. On or about October 1989, Plaintiff again asked for leave for family reasons and was pressured into buying $15,000 worth of materials so that my request would go through. Plaintiff finally could stand it no longer and left SEA ORG without official leave on October 8, 1989. 11. Defendant continued to maintain a powerful hold over Plaintiff such that he returned to Defendant on October 9, 1989 and paid $5,000 to Defendant to fulfill his promise made during August. Defendants continued to pressure Plaintiff such that he was induced to sign up for an additional $32,000 worth of services. Defendant promised to help Plaintiff find a job and not to ask for more money. 12. However, they broke both promises and asked Plaintiff again for money in November 1989. On the same day in November 1989, one of Defendant’s agents pulled Plaintiff’s wallet out of his pocket and took out his credit card. Plaintiff asked for his credit card back and said not to charge anything on it. He was told that Defendant was only checking his credit line. This was a lie. Two charges showed up on Plaintiff’s credit card, one for $1000 and one for $500. 13. During the second week of October 1989, Plaintiff was found by SEA ORG and attempted to leave several times. He did not want to do “conditions” again because that is what kept him in scientology the first time. Again he was persuaded into doing “conditions” and required to go through another security check. This process again persuaded Plaintiff to remain with scientology. He was required to remain on the Estate Planning Force, which was part of SEA ORG, which is responsible for cleaning duties, and to live near Defendants place of business in Los Angeles. After three and a half week he decided to leave but was again persuaded to stay with Defendant and in the process was induced to give them $1500 from his credit card. 14. On or about November 20, 1989, Plaintiff was induced to give his TRW stock to Defendant in order to go “clear”. Fortunately, Defendant was unable to cash the check made out to Plaintiff from the sale of the stock. He was able to negotiate the return of most of the money from the sale of the stock. 15. What finally allowed Plaintiff to regain control of his life was that his sister accompanied him to Defendant’s location and made him realize that Defendant was controlling his life and taking his money.
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION PLAINTIFF V. DEFENDANT SCIENTOLOGY Breach of Contract 16. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference the allegations set forth in paragraphs 1 through 15 of this complaint as against Defendant. 17. Defendant entered into said contract with Plaintiff knowing that it had a separate agenda, namely to induce Plaintiff to give as much of his wealth as possible to Defendant. Plaintiff received only a fraction of the services and material which he was entitled to receive and was exposed to the constant pressure to give Defendant money. Plaintiff was further subjected to what amounted to “brain washing” so that Defendant could obtain Plaintiff’s money. 18. Defendant breached its obligations under the contract to Plaintiff as described in paragraph 17 and in so doing caused Plaintiff to be severely damaged both financially and emotionally. Wherefore: Plaintiff claims judgment and damages as set forth in his prayer for relief. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION PLAINTIFF V. DEFENDANT SCIENTOLOGY Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing 19. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference the allegations set forth in paragraphs 1 through 18 of this complaint as against Defendant. 20. Defendant’s contract with Plaintiff raises an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing which it broke repeatedly in that it intentionally deceived Plaintiff into giving his money and property to Defendant. He was psychologically handled such that every time he gave money he was made to feel better. Plaintiff was an indecisive person who was manipulated to obtain his money. Wherefore: Plaintiff claims judgment and damages as set forth in his prayer for relief. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION PLAINTIFF V. DEFENDANT SCIENTOLOGY Fraud and Conspiracy 21. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference the allegations set forth in paragraphs 1 through 20 of this complaint as against Defendant. 22. Defendant intentionally, willfully and wantonly engaged in the acts enumerated in paragraph 17 with the purpose of deceiving Plaintiff and inducing him to part with his money and property. 23. Plaintiffs are entitled to exemplary and punitive damages for Defendant’s fraudulent conduct in the sum of $100,000. Wherefore: Plaintiff claims judgment and damages as set forth in his prayer for relief. FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION PLAINTIFF V. SCIENTOLOGY Breach of Fiduciary Duty 24. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference the allegations set forth in paragraphs 1 through 18, and 20 through 23 of this complaint as against Defendant. 25. Defendant owed a fiduciary duty to Plaintiff and breached that duty as set forth in paragraphs 17 of this complaint. Not only did Defendant keep money in an account on complaint. Not only did Defendant keep money in an account on behalf of Plaintiff, without the intention of giving it back, its did not give it back. Defendant supports its actions by claiming it is a church. That in itself entails a confidential and fiduciary relationship. 26. As a direct and proximate result of that breach of duty, Plaintiff was damaged in a sum in excess of $15,000.
Wherefore: Plaintiff claims judgment and damages as set forth in his prayer for relief. PLAINTIFFS’ PRAYER FOR RELIEF Wherefore Plaintiff prays judgement and damages of each and every Defendant jointly and severally as follows: 1. For the sum of $35,000 as against Defendant for breach of contract, any damages in excess of that amount to be proven at trial. 2. For a sum to be proven at trial as against Defendant for the Second and Fourth Causes of action as exemplary and punitive damages. 3. For interest on said sums at the legal rate of interest. 4. For reasonable attorney’s fees. 5. For costs of the suit. 6. For such other relief as this Court finds just and equitable.
Dated: August 8, 1991 [signature]
JAMES C. BRIDGMAN Aspelin & Bridgman Attorneys for Plaintiff
Former Sceintologist from Finnland Roger Larsson has no good words for this former cultists. He rues the day that he ever came into contact with Scientology.
I saw the evil inside the ‘church’ of Scientology.
This greedy, this selfish, this step on people for “your” own best. Greatest good for the dynamics meant – it’s perfectly okay to have ragged people, write down your O/W:s and go on with the clearing of the planet. I bought it, I really thought it was that simple. Two words could have made my life different, two words saying so much, two words very simple in its construction, two words consisting of eight letters – NO THANKS!
I was sucked into this whales stomach where I stayed for a few years. Out I came finally with an empty wallet but than what? I was brainwashed and I could have done much more damage to myself. At least I don’t have any dissatisfied people in my social environment, no enemies, no evil eyes hunting and scaring me.
I tell people the truth, I tell them I’ve been taken, blinded by the light a cult and that’s why I have financial problems; people nod in understanding. I have given my trust in a cult that has created problems for me in society, nothing more or less.
I have decided to inform people about mind control and tell them to not swallow this crap no matter how much they sweeten it. We can’t fail to be ourselves if we stick to our true identities, the ones the arrived on this world with through our parents. We don’t need any f-ing group telling us how bad we are and taking all our money for their own criminal group.
Joe Larabell was a Dianetics auditor sometime during the 1960’s who eventually ended up in the Guardians Office. He quit at some point before operation Snow White. Later he would again take an interest in Scientology after he heard that the cult was attempting to suppress any negative content on the net.
The organization:
The organization known as Scientology, at the time I was there, was a well-oiled example of organizational efficiency. Companies could do worse than to study and use some of the ideas found in Scientology’s “Organization Executive course”. Of course, as with all Scientology principles, these ideas were taught and held as absolutes, generally resulting in a mindlessly draconian atmosphere in which individual innovation was all but squashed. Hubbard managed to install a hectic statistic-based management system over the top of a win-or-die-in-the-process attitude that practically forbid anyone from stopping for longer than it took to take a crap.
Nearly all Scientologists, at least when I was around, seemed to believe that their existence on this planet was the only thing that stood between utopia and nuclear annihilation. Looking at things from this perspective, it’s not too hard to see how the group (as a whole) might tend to focus more on the attainment of the goals of the group than on the sanctity of the individual. After all, if millions of lives are at stake, what’s one or two casualties along the way?
Of course, those looking in from the outside realize that this attitude really stems from an over-inflated sense of self importance. No goal is worth leaving an endless chain of trampled individuals in your wake. The point is that often the actions and reactions which we see coming from the Church are too often the result of zealous middle-managers blindly applying what they have studied in their executive courses rather than of any malicious intent on the part of the individuals involved. Of course, there are always exceptions.
Someday I may write some simple summaries of those Scientology management principles I found most useful — some of which I occasionally use to this day in my personal life. For now perhaps just knowing the attitude from which most Scientology policy stems is enough to help understand why things are as they are today.
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