Danny Masterson victims argue again for adding racketeering in Scientology lawsuit

[Judge Upinder Kalra and defendant Danny Masterson]

With Leah Remini’s lawsuit held up while both sides appeal an early ruling, and Valerie Haney and Valeska Paris both in limbo as those lawsuits face the prospect of “religious arbitration,” it’s been something of a quiet summer in litigation with the church.

The lawsuit filed by Danny Masterson’s victims also hit a snag as Scientology appealed a ruling by Judge Upinder Kalra. But this week attorneys for the Jane Does argued again that even though that appeal has put some things on hold, there are other very important matters that should be moving forward: Namely, that since December they have been trying to make major changes to the lawsuit, including adding another victim as well as civil racketeering counts against the Church of Scientology and sexual battery counts against Masterson.

The Jane Does filed the lawsuit in 2019, even before Masterson was charged criminally, alleging that since they had come forward to the LAPD they had been subjected to an ongoing campaign of harassment orchestrated by Masterson and Scientology. The church responded by moving to have the lawsuit forced into its own version of arbitration, but an appeals court ruled that because the women were suing over what was happening after they had left the church, contracts they had signed as members didn’t apply. Then, the lawsuit was put on hold as Masterson was tried twice, resulting in his conviction last year and sentencing to 30 years to life in prison.

As the lawsuit got going again last fall, Scientology filed anti-SLAPP motions to try to get the case thrown out. In the meantime, in December the Jane Does submitted their proposed changes to the lawsuit, adding a victim (actress Tricia Vessey, who had testified in the first trial), as well as the sexual battery and civil racketeering allegations. Clearly, with both an appeals court victory and Masterson in prison, the Jane Does were in a much stronger position and they wanted to beef up the lawsuit as a result.

And then, Judge Kalra denied Scientology’s anti-SLAPP motions outright, another sign that the lawsuit was becoming a real problem for Scientology. The church then appealed that ruling by Kalra, and argued that it put the entire case on hold. Judge Kalra agreed.

The Jane Does are asking Judge Kalra to reconsider that position. Even with Scientology’s appeal asking a higher court to review the judge’s denial of those anti-SLAPP motions, that shouldn’t put the rest of the case on hold, and the Judge should be able to rule on whether the new proposed changes can come in, as well as allowing discovery to proceed.

Next week, we’ll see if Judge Kalra agrees.

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Jamie Raskin zings Scientology

Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin whipped out an eye-opening reference to Scientology Wednesday as he was a guest on The Young Turks show during its coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Speaking to hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, Raskin came up with this example for why the US should wake up about the sorts of bullies that it is dealing with…

“Yeah, but that's true of any religious cult. I mean, the people who are in the Church of Scientology, you know, when they're cleaning Tom Cruise's yacht with a toothbrush or whatever they've got to do for punishment, they're cursing David Miscavige, the head of the whole thing, but they're terrified of him. And, you know, it's time for Americans to stop being afraid of the bullies who are really cowards, and that's what this is all about.”

Hey, someone has been paying attention!

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