Karen#1
Well-known member
Arbitration starts in Scientology labor-trafficking case, plaintiffs seek court relief
The court docket in the labor trafficking lawsuit filed by Australian residents Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris has been quiet for nearly a year after the case was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration.”
This is the lawsuit filed in Tampa, Florida in 2022 that alleges years of abuse aboard Scientology’s cruise ship, the Freewinds, as the Baxters and Valeska worked as virtual slaves as children and adults. Judge Thomas Barber ruled that contracts signed while they were Scientologists obliged them to seek arbitration rather than to sue in court.
There was no public word about when or where that arbitration was occurring.
This week, a new document showed up which suggests Scientology required the Baxters and Valeska to remain quiet about the arbitration, which turned out to have started on January 19.
There’s no indication in the document whether the arbitration finished, and the plaintiffs now want to file a motion with the court, but they are mindful of the confidentiality agreements they signed, and have submitted numerous documents to the court under seal.
Our appellate attorney expert, TX Lawyer, suggests that the plaintiffs here are experiencing what we’ve also seen in Valerie Haney’s case, where her attorneys have come to court complaining about the way she’s been treated during her “arbitration.”
“This does not suggest to me that the arbitration is over. It says what they are seeking leave to seal (which is questionable — you can’t use an NDA to prevent open access to court records) is a motion for reconsideration. I expect they are asking the court to reconsider the order compelling arbitration, based on whatever nonsense is going on in the arbitration itself. If there was a decision already, the plaintiffs would be filing a motion to vacate it,” he says.
Is that what’s happening? Are Valeska and the Baxters going through some of the same harassment that Valerie has experienced, and they’re trying to get the court to do something about it, but at the same time trying to abide by confidentiality requirements set by the church?
We knew you’d want to see the entire document, and we’ll just have to get what we can from it for now until something else turns up. (Also, there is news in Valerie Haney’s case as well, and we’re waiting for some more information about it before we produce a report.)
Read more :
tonyortega.substack.com
The court docket in the labor trafficking lawsuit filed by Australian residents Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris has been quiet for nearly a year after the case was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration.”
This is the lawsuit filed in Tampa, Florida in 2022 that alleges years of abuse aboard Scientology’s cruise ship, the Freewinds, as the Baxters and Valeska worked as virtual slaves as children and adults. Judge Thomas Barber ruled that contracts signed while they were Scientologists obliged them to seek arbitration rather than to sue in court.
There was no public word about when or where that arbitration was occurring.
This week, a new document showed up which suggests Scientology required the Baxters and Valeska to remain quiet about the arbitration, which turned out to have started on January 19.
There’s no indication in the document whether the arbitration finished, and the plaintiffs now want to file a motion with the court, but they are mindful of the confidentiality agreements they signed, and have submitted numerous documents to the court under seal.
Our appellate attorney expert, TX Lawyer, suggests that the plaintiffs here are experiencing what we’ve also seen in Valerie Haney’s case, where her attorneys have come to court complaining about the way she’s been treated during her “arbitration.”
“This does not suggest to me that the arbitration is over. It says what they are seeking leave to seal (which is questionable — you can’t use an NDA to prevent open access to court records) is a motion for reconsideration. I expect they are asking the court to reconsider the order compelling arbitration, based on whatever nonsense is going on in the arbitration itself. If there was a decision already, the plaintiffs would be filing a motion to vacate it,” he says.
Is that what’s happening? Are Valeska and the Baxters going through some of the same harassment that Valerie has experienced, and they’re trying to get the court to do something about it, but at the same time trying to abide by confidentiality requirements set by the church?
We knew you’d want to see the entire document, and we’ll just have to get what we can from it for now until something else turns up. (Also, there is news in Valerie Haney’s case as well, and we’re waiting for some more information about it before we produce a report.)
Read more :
Arbitration starts in Scientology labor-trafficking case, plaintiffs seek court relief
The court docket in the labor trafficking lawsuit filed by Australian residents Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris has been quiet for nearly a year after the case was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration.”
tonyortega.substack.com
