Now this is the showdown we were telling you just the other day that we'd like to see!
After Scientology leader David Miscavige finally had a lawyer appear for him in the Tampa federal labor trafficking lawsuit (and simply in order to keep him out of the case), Neil Glazer, the attorney for the former Sea Org workers suing the church, asked the court for a hearing to present his arguments for why Miscavige should be declared served and an official defendant in the case.
As a result, the court has set a hearing for arguments on January 20 at 2 pm, and on Zoom before Magistrate Judge Julie Sneed. We will see if we can't log in, because we'd love to see Glazer take on Miscavige's attorney, Florida Bar past president William Schifino.
In April, Valeska Paris and two other former Sea Org workers, Gawain and Laura Baxter, filed the lawsuit against Scientology and Miscavige, alleging that they had been trafficked as children and adults, forced to do labor and treated horribly on Scientology’s floating cathedral, the cruise ship Freewinds.
Scientology is attempting to derail the lawsuit the way it usually does in this kind of litigation, by arguing that contracts these former Scientologists signed while they were members obliged them not to sue but to take their grievances to Scientology’s own brand of “religious arbitration.”
A hearing on that question was held on November 17, and we are awaiting a ruling from federal Judge Thomas Barber, who at the hearing seemed to indicate some skepticism about Scientology’s claims.
In the meantime, Valeska and the Baxters have struggled to get Scientology leader David Miscavige officially named a defendant in the case, and they have made numerous filings alleging that Miscavige is purposely evading service. The other defendants, institutional Scientology subsidiaries, all accepted service and are fighting the lawsuit with a high-priced army of lawyers. But until last week no attorneys had appeared for Miscavige and at the November 17 hearing Judge Barber expressed that he’d never seen anything quite like it.
Then, on Wednesday last week, Schifino filed his appearance, making it clear that he was only representing Miscavige in a very limited way, and in order to argue that Miscavige not be served.
Some readers pointed out to us that this is not unusual on its own as a legal strategy. And we were aware of it: In fact, Miscavige used a similar strategy to keep himself out of a lawsuit that Monique Rathbun filed in Texas in 2013.
But he did that almost right away after that lawsuit was filed. What was different this time is that Miscavige had spent more than seven months completely evading service and not sending an attorney down to the court, to the point that even the judge remarked that he’d never seen anything like it.
But now, Schifino is representing Miscavige for the purpose of keeping him out of the case, and we’ll get to see him go up against Glazer on January 20. We just hope the court allows us to join the Zoom.
Continuing our year in review: The stories of February 2022
We welcomed another great contributor as Louise Shekter began sending us a number of really well-written pieces about her time in Scientology, beginning with what it was like to arrive at the yacht Apollo to begin sailing with founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1969.
Scientology was still reeling over its loss in appellate court in January that restored the lawsuit filed by Danny Masterson’s accusers. We marveled at the whiny language in the petition they filed for a rehearing. There’s nothing like Scientology attorneys in a high dudgeon.
In Louise Shekter’s second piece, she described the stress when a family is dealing with serious medical considerations while being stalked by Scientology’s goons.
February 8 was one of the strangest days in the Danny Masterson legal saga. At a hearing in Danny’s criminal case, one of Scientology’s attorneys showed up, carping about something Judge Charlaine Olmedo had said about the church. It was a bizarre moment in a case where Scientology wasn’t actually a party. Later in the month, we provided even more detail on this bizarre day in court.
The next day, another big development in the Masterson mess: We revealed that Jane Doe 1 had dropped the vaunted Philly legal team for Brad Edwards, an attorney known for taking on Jeffrey Epstein.
We noted the passing of Ned McCrink, a man we were happy to have gotten to know. He had become disillusioned with Scientology after helping to finance its new “Ideal Org” in Orange County.
You know about Joy Villa and Chill EB, but now we got to learn about Scientology’s new superstar, Wicked Witch!
Once again, Scientology’s Super Bowl ad was a mystery sandwich, this time titled “We Are Giants.”
Bruce Hines gave us another superbly written narrative about his time in Scientology, and this one about the death of his sister. It was one of his most devastating pieces.
Louise Shekter’s third item for us gave us a glimpse about the choice she faced in Morocco: Taking a chance on a romance, or staying with the Sea Org? And later, what it was like to survive a hurricane with Hubbard.
On February 24, we dug into a controversy kicked up by blogger Stefani Hutchinson that showed pretty definitively what the Dutch government really thinks about Scientology’s cruise ship.
And finally, we noted the passing of former Narconon International president and longtime Scientology figure Clark Carr at 75.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2021: Investigative proof that Balance of Nature has a tight relationship with Scientology. New York investor and Scientologist David Gentile charged for running $1.8 billion Ponzi scheme. Scientology’s Narconon drug rehab network down to only 5 clinics in the US. The world lost jazz great and Scientology celeb Chick Corea. Exposing a Scientology dirty tricks operator, Russ Andrews. And another OT suicide.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2020: Forced to arbitration, Valerie Haney considered her options. An OT dentist in Maryland was unmasked as a sadistic medical disaster. Bobette Riales blamed Scientology for the near-fatal poisoning of her dog Jet. Scientology’s celebrity Narconon in Ojai got the drone treatment. An L. Ron Hubbard racist lecture in South Africa was unearthed. Last Ideal Org opened before the pandemic in Ventura, and we got the drone flyover.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2019: NFL great Marshall Faulk used another Super Bowl to shill for Scientology’s anti-drug front group. Chief Slaughter denied that Clearwater PD genuflects to David Miscavige. USC revealed that a letter from a prominent faculty member endorsing Scientology was a fake. The National Enquirer falsely claimed that Shelly Miscavige had been spotted on a cruise ship.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2018: David Mayo died, and we revealed that we’d been talking to him over the years. Scientology’s new Super Bowl ad, ‘Curious?’ was a hoot. Chris Owen dived into the notorious ‘brainwashing’ manual. And Sands Hall published her delightful memoir, ‘Flunk. Start.’
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2017: The new Super Bowl ad was another mystery sandwich. Phil and Willie Jones put up another ‘Call Me’ billboard, this time right on Sunset Boulevard. Clay Irwin toured Tom Cruise’s penthouse. We profiled the ‘celebrity whisperer,’ Quailynn McDaniel.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2016: News broke that Monique Rathbun had fired her entire legal team. Ross and Carrie began their trip inside the church. Defector Paul Burkhart estimated fewer than 20,000 active members left in the church worldwide. And a 1940 L. Ron Hubbard short story turned out to have a lot of precursor ideas for Scientology.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2015: The horrifying story of a mentally ill woman held in an Arkansas basement by a Scientologist, Mark Ebner found that Narconon International ditched its offices, we fact-checked Danny Masterson, and R.M. Seibert dug up L. Ron Hubbard’s high school record.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2014: The Master actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died in New York, we wrote an essay complaining about the way the media talks about Scientology and celebrities, and we provided some context to the first official Scientology wedding in England.
A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2013: Jenna Miscavige Hill’s memoir, Beyond Belief, was published. Harlan Ellison helped us document a Hubbard legend. And former Narconon executive Eric Tenorio cam forward.
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
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How does the whoismikerinder scientology bullshit, advertise in the middle of an underground bunker article? Scientology sucks! They’re a business, 100% Also, is any narcanon locations still run by scientology?
Thank you to all the exs who continue to testify about their life in the Clampire. Your telling is helping keep new meat out the $cieno brain grinder.