Valerie Haney nominates Jenna Elfman, Giovanni Ribisi and 13 others for arbitrator

Wow, Valerie Haney is really striking back at Scientology, which ridiculed her in court on February 2 for nominating Elisabeth Moss, Tom Cruise, and Shelly Miscavige to be her arbitrator after her 2019 lawsuit was forced into Scientology’s own brand of “religious arbitration.”

With a March 15 court hearing coming up, Valerie has gone all out, nominating a stellar list of well known Scientology names…

John Coale. This is the well-known Scientologist attorney who Lisa Marie Presley told us convinced her to file for divorce against Michael Jackson.

Jenna Elfman. The actress is understood to be one of the most hard-core Scientology celebrities, and one who keeps other Scientologist actors in line.

Giovanni Ribisi. This actor is thought to be more on the fence, according to his daughter who said she has left the church.

Rebecca Minkoff. The hand-bag designer has been active with Scientology front groups.

Emily Jones. This is the daughter of Phil and Willie Jones, and someone we have written about often as a visible member of the church who represents Galaxy Press.

Erik Geisler. Yes, the notorious “spy in the court hallway.”

Catherine Bell. The actress is loyal to Scientology, a homophobic organization, even though she’s in a relationship with a woman.

Matt Feshbach. With his wife Kathy, the couple who were criticized by multiple courts for trying to dodge a huge tax bill while living high on the hog.

Jessica Feshbach. Niece to Matt, ex-wife to Tommy Davis, and former handler to Katie Holmes.

Bob Duggan. The wealthiest Scientologist in the world, who has donated something like $330 million to the church.

Grant Cardone. The “10X” motivational speaker who is not shy about talking about his connection to the church.

Ben Shaw. The Scientology spokesman in Clearwater.

Craig Jensen. A Scientologist donor who was big in software.

Pat Harney. A Scientology spokeswoman in Clearwater.

Kirsten Caetano. A key figure in Scientology’s “Office of Special Affairs.”

During a February 2 court hearing in Los Angeles, we had the opportunity to listen in from New York and gave our readers an account of the proceedings. The matter at hand was the Valerie’s lawsuit against Scientology, which has been forced into Scientology’s brand of “religious arbitration.”

Scientology was arguing that Valerie has not done enough to get that arbitration proceeding going, and was asking Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer to toss out the lawsuit as a result.

Appearing for Valerie was Graham Berry, who made what appeared to be some very good arguments for why not only should Valerie’s lawsuit remain, but that Judge Killefer should step in and choose an arbitrator.

Judge Killefer appeared to consider it for a moment, but then decided to give Valerie another chance to name an arbitrator before a March 15 continuation of the case.

(In Scientology arbitration, the complainant, Valerie in this case, nominates an arbitrator, Scientology then chooses a second arbitrator, and then those two arbitrators choose a third. All three must be Scientology members in good standing.)

We had reported that Valerie had nominated Elisabeth Moss to be her arbitrator, and after Scientology refused, she then nominated Tom Cruise and Shelly Miscavige. Again, Scientology said they were unavailable, and then argued to Judge Killefer that these were frivolous choices and that Valerie was being “obstructionist.”

But now, in a new 19-page filing, Graham Berry is arguing that Valerie has actually followed Scientology’s policies to the letter, and that she did nothing wrong nominating Moss, Cruise, and Shelly Miscavige.

Also, during the February 2 hearing, Scientology’s attorney William Forman argued that because Valerie had grown up in Scientology and left it in 2016, she should know “hundreds” of Scientologist she could choose from to nominate.

We thought it was a remarkable thing for a Scientology attorney to say, and now Berry has an answer for it…

It is misleading for Defendants to claim that Plaintiff must know which Scientologists are or are not in good standing with CSI. Scientologists are constantly going in and out of good standing with CSI. At any one time, many Scientologists are not in good standing because they are being punished for “ethics” violations or other offenses and doing “lower conditions” as punishment. Plaintiff was a member of the CSI’s Sea Organization and at any one time numerous Sea Org members who have committed “ethics” or other transgressions are also doing abusive “lower conditions” on the CSI Rehabilitation Project Force. Then there are the Scientologists who were once in “good standing” but who were subsequently declared to be “Suppressive Persons” who “[m]ay be deprived of property or injured by any means” … “[m]ay be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” …Consequently, it is disingenuous for Defendants to argue that as a former Scientologist, Plaintiff must know many “Scientologists in good standing.” Moreover, Defendants now deem the Plaintiff to be a “Suppressive Person” for, inter alia, filing suit against the church. A Scientologist in good standing is not permitted to have any form of communication with a “Suppressive Person” such as the Plaintiff. Accordingly, it is impossible for Plaintiff to be certain as to who are current scientologists and which of those persons are in or out of “good standing” with the organization.

Wow!

And, as in the hearing, Berry also suggested that Judge Killefer again consider stepping in and selecting the arbitrators for the plaintiffs and the defense for herself, if necessary, and ask for Scientology to submit to her a list of members in good standing.

But first, Scientology will have to deal with the list that Valerie has submitted, and we can’t wait to see what they say!

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