Skip to main content

Danny Masterson accusers must have claims resolved by the Church of Scientology, judge rules

By
GettyImages 57245206
The Church of Scientology Celebrity Center in Hollywood, California.

Getty Images

  • Former members of the Church of Scientology must have their claims against the organization resolved by the organization itself, a California court ruled Thursday.
  • The ruling stems from a lawsuit accusing actor Danny Masterson of sexual assault and claiming the Church of Scientology harassed his accusers to silence them.
  • The court's order exempts actor Bobette Riales, who was never a Scientologist.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former members of the Church of Scientology who accuse the organization of harassing them to cover up sexual assault will not have their claims heard in court. Instead, a California judge ruled Thursday, their claims will have to be weighed in a private arbitration process designed by the organization itself.

The ruling stems from a 2019 lawsuit accusing "That 70s Show" star Danny Masterson of sexual assault - and the Church of Scientology of harassing them to drop the claims. The suit was filed by actor and former girlfriend Chrissie Carnell Bixler, her husband and Mars Volta lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, two anonymous accusers, and actor Bobette Riales.

In their complaint, Masterson, "a high-ranking member of Church of Scientology and Religious Technology," is accused of sexually assaulting Bixler at various times between 1996 and 2002, drugging and raping another woman twice, in 2002 and 2003, and assaulting a woman while she was too intoxicated to consent. The accusers allege that they then faced harassment from Scientology agents, including stalking and threats of violence.

In the December 30 court order, Judge Steven J. Kleifield of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, did not address the merits of the claims. Rather, the ruling states that former members of the Church of Scientology are bound by an arbitration clause signed by all who join the organization.

That clause states that members of the organization agree "to be bound exclusively by the discipline, faith, internal organization, and ecclesiastical rule, custom, and law of the Scientology religion in all matters relating to Scientology Religious Services, in all my dealings with any nature with the Church."

Signatories agree to resolve any conflict within the organization's own "binding religious arbitration procedures."

Because she was never a member, and thus never signed away her rights to seek justice through the court system, Thursday's ruling does not apply to Riales, an actor and former girlfriend who accuses Masterson of raping her multiple times during their relationship. 

In June, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged Masterson with forcibly raping three women at his home in the early 2000s.

Masterson denies the claims.

In a statement to E! News, a lawyer for the actor praised Thursday's court ruling.

"This was absolutely the correct result," attorney Andrew Brettler said. "We look forward to arbitrating the claims, as the court directed."

The Church of Scientology did not respond to a request for comment. But it previously rejected the accusations against it, calling the lawsuit a "dishonest and hallucinatory publicity stunt."

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider


from Business Insider https://ift.tt/381OkXG
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch Aidy Bryant *completely* lose it as 'SNL' roasts political pundits

By
On Saturday Night Live , there are breaks and then there's whatever happened here. The Season 45 premiere featured a sketch that was meant to expose the empty noisemaking of political punditry on TV. But part of the joke involved a series of quick costume changes, and some weirdness during one of those switches led to a complete and total breakdown. Aidy Bryant, the segment's host, couldn't take it. She manages to keep it together until what appears to be an accidental wide shot exposes some of the magic as we see a woman who's probably a member of the SNL wardrobe crew fiddling with Aidy's costume. Read more... More about Saturday Night Live , Aidy Bryant , Entertainment , and Movies Tv Shows from Mashable https://ift.tt/2okrAOq via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

MVP versus EVP: Is it time to introduce ethics into the agile startup model?

By
Anand Rao Contributor Share on Twitter Anand Rao is global head of AI at PwC . The rocket ship trajectory of a startup is well known: Get an idea, build a team and slap together a minimum viable product (MVP) that you can get in front of users. However, today’s startups need to reconsider the MVP model as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) become ubiquitous in tech products and the market grows increasingly conscious of the ethical implications of AI augmenting or replacing humans in the decision-making process. An MVP allows you to collect critical feedback from your target market that then informs the minimum development required to launch a product — creating a powerful feedback loop that drives today’s customer-led business. This lean, agile model has been extremely successful over the past two decades — launching thousands of successful startups, some of which have grown into billion-dollar companies. However, building high-performing product...
Post a Comment
Read more