We’re still seeing headlines saying that the recent ruling in Leah Remini’s lawsuit “gutted” it, or all but destroyed it, and that Scientology is entitled to fees, and so on.
We told you that those assessments are basically wrong. Yes, Judge Randolph Hammock did remove numerous defamation claims from Leah’s lawsuit, but he kept in eight of its nine causes of action (the one he killed, the ninth, was marginal to begin with), including the important claims of harassment and tortious interference, and Leah has already filed to put back in fresher defamation claims than the ones that were cut for being too old.
But the best evidence that this ruling was much better for Leah Remini than you’ve heard from some news organizations is that David Miscavige is so unhappy with the ruling he filed a peremptory challenge to remove Judge Hammock from the case, and yesterday Scientology’s attorney William Forman filed notice that the church will be appealing the ruling.
Sure, Leah gave up some things in the ruling, but it's Scientology that is bursting a blood vessel over it.
Leah filed her suit on August 2, and she’s asking for a jury trial to prove that she’s been subjected to horrendous “Fair Game” smears and harassment by Scientology and its operatives.
Judge Hammock agreed in part with Scientology that this is a very public fight and that both sides are engaging in name-calling. But he also found that Leah can sue the church over claims that it has sent operatives to intimidate her family members, for example, or has targeted the executives of companies Leah does business with in order to scare them off.
Even with some of the defamation claims removed, this remains a problematic lawsuit for Scientology, and so we were pretty amused to see Karin Pouw, the church’s spokeswoman, tell the Courthouse News Service that this was “a resounding victory for the Church.”
It wasn’t a resounding victory, and Scientology has now confirmed that by indicating that it plans to appeal.
So what do we have to look forward to now? There’s the matter of replacing Judge Hammock. Leah’s team cleverly suggested that Judge Upinder Kalra take it over since he already has the Bixler case in his court and recently handed a very favorable ruling to the Danny Masterson victims suing the church. Will the court go for that, or will Leah’s suit be assigned to another random judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court?
Leah has asked for an April 18 hearing to ask for leave to amend her complaint and add those updated defamation claims. However, with Scientology appealing Judge Hammock’s ruling, the case is likely to be held up for quite a while. But then, with Scientology litigation, delays by the church just seem par for the course.
The latest from Leah
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As ex-Scientologists navigate from centering “what’s wrong with you” to a trauma-informed “what happened to you,” having safety and trust in those around you, and to be empowered with choices as you participate in your own transition from cult to community will encourage the best outcomes.
Trauma is exactly what KSW and Scientology’s written policies of destroying “suppression” create — whether you are a Scientologist or not. Just ask Paulette Cooper.
Or even me. I was never in, yet a few postings on a.r.s. and showing up at a picket earned attorney-letter attempts to get me fired, phone calls to my workplace, strange men parked in front of my house, and my kid’s day care calling to see if it was ok for someone I didn’t know to pick up my child (NO. But as a single mom at the time I felt very threatened).
The goal is clearly written to “shudder into silence.” And whether or not I can attribute all the weird things that happened to my car, missing mail and garbage, and bank irregularities to Scientology’s policies or not, the important part is *they wanted me to think so.*
It is perfectly logical for Judge Kalra to take over the case. So Miscavige will fight it tooth and nail. Anything to waste time and money and to keep consistent verdicts from being filed. The next court date will be fun, which judge will be assigned the case and how long in the future will the next court dates occur? Stay tuned, same clam time, same clam channel.
A girls day out? All of them have earned a few 'girly' days out. I do hope a bit of wine and some good food was included.