On May 21, 2009, the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled against Diskeeper's Motion for summary judgment in its case against Godelman and Le Shay, although it did find for Diskeeper in part by preemptively removing the availability of punitive damages from the case, likely to prompt settlement. Jury trial is now set for July 13, 2009 [PDF], and is estimate to run 14 days. The Court issued separate rulings(Godelman ruling [PDF]; Le Shay ruling [PDF]) with regard to Diskeeper's summary judgment motion to reflect the minor factual differences in the plaintiffs' cases. One other difference is that the Court accepted Diskeeper's argument that Godelman failed to show that he sought a reasonable accommodation in lieu of of Hubbard Management Technology.
But the news is largely good insofar as a jury is now scheduled to decide (amongst other things) whether Hubbard Management Technology is religious in nature. An adverse ruling for Diskeeper will greatly decrease the ability of other Scientology front groups to intrude into various secular spheres.
I don't have the time to delve too deeply into the Court's rulings, but I did perform some light research into a matter which seemed odd to me: that being the Court's having removed punitive damages as an available remedy before trial. In American Airlines v. Sheppard, the state appeals court ruled that California's "clear and convincing" evidentiary standard for punitive damages "does not impose on a plaintiff the obligation to 'prove' a case for punitive damages at summary judgment." In other words, the Court prematurely ruled on punitive damages, which may yet be borne out at trial. I'm not a California lawyer, however, and so it's not clear how this will play out.
For now, however, we can look forward to a trial.
David Souter's announced retirement from the Supreme Court today is somewhat of a blow to establishment clause separationists, for whom there was no more eloquent a proponent than Souter. I've come back to Souter's inspired concurrence in Lee v. Weisman more than once, so I thought I'd post some of that concurrence here. In Lee v. Weisman, a 5-4 majority found unconstitutional a public high&hellip Continue reading here.
I rarely dive into sensationalist crime but this story about a mother, Ria Ramkissoon, accused of starving her son to death at the suggestion and behest of her fellow cult members (because he failed begin his dinner with an "amen") is interesting because of the unusual plea agreement into which she entered. Members of the 1 Mind Ministries (could there be a more obviously cultic&hellip Continue reading here.
Some Christians are up in arms over a North Carolina family court's order last week that mother Venessa Mills discontinue homeschooling her children and send them to public school instead. After reading the news coverage, and then reading the order [pdf], I think the court got it right, and for the right reasons, few of which directly relate to homeschooling. If anything, this was an&hellip Continue reading here.
On February 6, 2007, Kyle Brennan, a disabled adult, left his Virginia home to visit his Scientologist father in Clearwater Florida. Eleven days later, he was dead. Three Scientologists, Denise Miscavige Gentile (twin sister of Scientology head David Miscavige), her husband Gerald Gentile, Thomas Brennan (Kyle's father), and the Church of Scientology's Flag Service Organization, now face a wrongful death suit brought by Brennan's mother.&hellip Continue reading here.
I realize that we're trundling on down the procedural rabbit hole here, and it's pretty easy to get lost, so let me start by providing an enumerated roundup of where we are and how we got here. 1. In November, 2008, Godelman and Le Shay filed its 3d Amended Complaint, alleging wrongful termination [pdf] against Diskeeper. Among the relief requested is a prospective injunction which&hellip Continue reading here.
Claire Headley ("Claire"), wife of Marc Headley ("Marc") , who recently filed a lawsuit alleging labor law violations (which I wrote about here), has followed up her husband's lawsuit with a similar lawsuit of her own. Claire's complaint (which I converted to html here--the pdf can be read here) makes allegations similar to those by her husband, namely that Scientology violated California's labor laws&hellip Continue reading here.
Yesterday I received what at first glance appeared to be a Cease and Desist from Diskeeper's counsel, An Nguyen, in the Godelman v. Diskeeper case, about which I've posted here and here. The letter (which can be read HERE [PDF]), implies that the material I've previously posted was confidential and that my posts contravene a confidentiality order issued in this case last year. The letter&hellip Continue reading here.
“And I would like to state for the record that I object to having my religious beliefs held up to public ridicule and scorn by an officer of the court.” – Craig Jensen “And anyone who objects and says, I'm not going to consider the Hubbard Management System; I'm not going to partipate in it in any way is distancing themselves from any possibility of&hellip Continue reading here.