Baxter, et al.v. Miscavige, Church of Scientology, Intl., et al.

#1

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/flori ... 986/401229

Baxter et al v. Miscavige et al

Plaintiff: Gawain Baxter, Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris

Defendant: David Miscavige, Church of Scientology International, Inc., Religious Technology Center, Inc., IAS Administrations, Inc., Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc. and Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organization, Inc.

Case Number: 8:2022cv00986
Filed: April 28, 2022
Court: US District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Presiding Judge: Thomas P Barber
Referring Judge: Julie S Sneed
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 28 U.S.C. § 1331 Fed. Question
Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff

April 28, 2022 Filing 1 COMPLAINT against All Defendants with Jury Demand (Filing fee $402 receipt number BFLMDC-19512342) filed by All Plaintiffs. (Attachments: #1 Civil Cover Sheet)(Zimmerman, Warren)

#2

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwate ... is-baxter/

Where is Scientology’s David Miscavige? Opposing lawyers want to know.
Attorneys for three former workers suing Scientology for trafficking say he has evaded service of the lawsuit.

Where is Scientology’s David Miscavige? Opposing lawyers want to know.

Attorneys for three former workers suing Scientology for trafficking say he has evaded service of the lawsuit.

The process servers showed up to 10 Church of Scientology properties in Clearwater and California with legal documents in hand.

They tried 27 times over four months to serve Scientology leader David Miscavige with a federal trafficking lawsuit that names him as a defendant, according to records in the case.

Security guards, the court filings state, refused to accept documents from the process servers, declined to answer questions and said they did not know where Miscavige lived or worked despite him being the ecclesiastical leader of the organization.

The case revolves around allegations from three former Scientologists who say they were trafficked into the church as children and forced to work through adulthood for little or no pay. Valeska Paris and husband and wife Gawain and Laura Baxter, who filed the complaint in April, left the church’s military-style workforce called the Sea Org in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

Five church entities named as co-defendants already have been served and filed motions in July to push the lawsuit into internal arbitration, where it would go before a panel of loyal church members. A judge has not yet ruled on the church’s request to divert the case out of the U.S. court system. But as that decision is pending, attorneys for the three former church workers still have been unable to serve Scientology’s secretive and elusive leader.

A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20 in Tampa federal court on the plaintiffs’ motion for a judge to declare Miscavige served and in default due to the “intentional concealment of his location and evasion of service.”

There is no trace of Miscavige’s personal residence in public records or proprietary databases, according to the plaintiffs’ legal team.

Even traffic tickets Miscavige received in Pinellas County in 1991 and 1995 list his address as the Church of Scientology International building in Los Angeles, plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

In a response filed Tuesday, attorneys for Miscavige alleged his inclusion as a defendant is improper “and part of a litigation strategy to target the leader of the religion for harassment.”

On Sept. 9, after months of failed attempts to serve Miscavige, U.S. Magistrate Judge Julie S. Sneed directed the clerk to issue a summons for him through the Florida Secretary of State, an alternate way to serve a defendant.

#3

Well, the last I heard his wife had been missing a lot longer.

Frater I*I · #4

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 8:45 pm Well, the last I heard his wife had been missing a lot longer.

Exactly.

#5

Scientology leader has judge removed from case alleging sex abuse, forced marriage after unfavorable ruling: Report

Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige has successfully removed a judge from a case where an unnamed woman sued the controversial organization and its officials for allegedly engaging in forced marriages among minors as well as sex abuse.

Representatives of the Church of Scientology have been trying to get the case brought by the Jane Doe plaintiff funneled into the church’s internal arbitration process for some time, and when presiding Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt tentatively denied that request on Monday, it was promptly followed by leader Miscavage’s motion for Broadbelt’s ouster the next day.

As Courthouse News Service reported, Broadbelt granted the request for a new judge Tuesday and the matter will now be reassigned to a different judge, though it is not yet clear who that will be.

This is the second time Miscavige has successfully removed a judge overseeing a case where he or the church is the defendant. He managed to oust Judge Randolph Hammock just last month from Leah Remini’s extensive and now trimmed down harassment case against the organization. The new judge in that matter, Holly Fujie, will hold a hearing on May 29, the Daily Journal reported.

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/sc ... ng-report/

#6

There is a totally bizarre procedural rule in California courts that gives litigants a single opportunity to demand a new judge without giving any reason for it. I suspect that's what's going on here.

#7

Thanks for the clarification, chancery. I was a bit down after reading about the two recusals.