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the division’s presiding justice, Laurence Rubin, included a note pointing out that although the Bixler decision is unpublished, that didn’t prevent a court from considering its arguments.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.
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the rest of the daily features that you’re used to — Source Code, Avast Ye Mateys, Overheard in the Freezone, Past is Prologue, and of course Random Howdy — please head over to tonyortega.org and our usual free-for-all in the comments section.
It's good that the criminal organisation known as the "church" of $cientology takes the time to teach the court how to do its work. Remains to be see whether the court agrees...
The Garcia “arbitration” basically should have proved that there was no such thing as arbitration in scientology. No attorney allowed to be present? No evidence allowed to be present? I’ve been present at arbitrations before, there are more attorneys and evidence than anything. Usually the person running the arbitration is a retired judge or an attorney for that matter.
The kangaroo court that scientology claims is arbitration has no relation to a real arbitration, nor any hope of a fair unbiased outcome.
I’m not sure what can be done to get that information to the judge in a manner they would understand, but it’s frustrating at best.