Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2015 3:33:16 GMT
Scientology Defector’s Epic Showdown Begins in New Braunfels Court
by Patrick Michels Published on Friday, September 13, 2013, at 12:04 CST
www.texasobserver.org/scientology-defectors-privacy-fight-sparks-epic-showdown-comal-county-court/
It reads like a half-baked Hollywood treatment.
A top official in the world’s most notorious church flees a secret compound and, presumed dead, escapes to a new life on the Texas coast. When he and his new wife are discovered, they’re so hounded by church enforcers that they haul the church to court for a restraining order. And now, inside a quaint historic courthouse in a Texas town, the church and all its big-time legal firepower must defend itself before a rural judge.
That’s the real-life story as Mark and Monique Rathbun tell it, and her lawsuit filed in Comal County last month spells it out in even more compelling detail. Before a dozen or more lawyers for the Church of Scientology and others she’s accused of stalking her, Monique Rathbun took the witness stand Thursday and described being stalked from one home to the next, harassed at work and followed overseas.
Les Strieber, a San Antonio lawyer representing the church, began building a defense based on religious freedom, suggesting Mark and Monique Rathbun are heretics who’ve been practicing Scientology outside the bounds of the church—and in violation of the church’s trademarks—and intoning that this “stalking” is constitutionally protected religious speech. With a little courtroom righteousness worthy of Matthew McConaughey, Strieber delivered one of the day’s great lines: “Your honor, I am not a Scientologist. But I am a disciple of the First Amendment.”
Judge Dib Waldrip, meanwhile, gave a promising first performance as the sleepy but straight-talking voice of Texas justice, bragging to the lawyers that, as they’re in Comal County, they’ll have to work their schedules around “the oldest continuously running fair in Texas.” Tony Ortega, the once and longtime Village Voice writer who’s covering the trial freelance, quipped Thursday that Waldrip looked like Ricky Gervais with Colonel Sanders’ facial hair. Waldrip, when Ortega’s name came up during the hearing, asked what a “Village Voice” is, and then looked completely baffled by the answer, like it had something to do with MTV.
Thursday’s hearing was a preliminary matter, as lawyers argue about extending the temporary restraining order Monique Rathbun has secured against the Church of Scientology and the people she says have been stalking her and her husband. All but one lawyer for the defense passed up the chance to cross-examine Rathbun yesterday, saying they’d rather hold their questions for the trial itself.
So Monique Rathbun spent more than two hours Thursday afternoon on the story of how she met and fell in love with Mark Rathbun—once a top official in the Church of Scientology, now one of the church’s most outspoken critics—and how their peaceful life on an impossibly idyllic Corpus Christi Bay became a nightmare. Beginning in late 2009, Mark and Monique Rathbun became the targets of sustained harassment by the Church of Scientology’s heretic-trackers known as “Squirrel Busters.”
This is the point at which one of world religion’s great curiosities became a local Texas story. The Rathbuns’ neighbors rallied to chase the buffoonish Squirrel Busters from cozy Ingleside on the Bay—but when the Rathbuns discovered hidden cameras trained on their home after the Squirrel Busters’ departure, they fled to a remote new home in Comal County.
Prompted by her lawyer Ray Jeffrey, Monique Rathbun choked up Thursday as she recalled finding surveillance cameras hidden in the trees behind their new home earlier this year, pointed at their house.
“It was just devastating,” she said. “It was just… this is never gonna stop.”
“How much more of this can you take?” Jeffrey asked her.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know the answer to that question.”
Strieber, the Church of Scientology’s attorney, got Monique Rathbun to concede that neither the Squirrel Busters nor any private investigators the Rathbuns encountered had physically harmed them or trespassed on their new home.
Because Mark and Monique Rathbun had both been “auditing” people at their home—a form of religious counseling particular to Scientology—outside the church’s purview, and had been using a piece of equipment known as an “E-meter” without the church’s approval, Strieber suggested any harassment Monique Rathbun alleged was just an attempt to protect the orthodoxy of the church. And its registered trademarks.
Though she hasn’t been a member of the Church of Scientology, Monique Rathbun said she’d dabbled in Scientology practices since marrying Mark.
“At any time, did you consider stopping auditing, [or] use of the Scientology materials … as a way of ending this religious debate between the church and your husband?” Strieber asked her.
“No, I did not,” she said. “I didn’t think that’s what this fight is about.”
Any trial in the case is a long ways off—even the decision on extending the restraining order is likely weeks away. Lawyers are back in court today to fight over an attempt to get Jeffrey, Rathbun’s lawyer, removed from the case. They’ll be back in New Braunfels again later this month or early next month—depending on the schedules of Scientology’s legal team and, of course, the longest-running county fair in Texas.
Monique Rathbun v. Church of Scientology Full Court Documents:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/786411-monique-rathbun-v-church-of-scientology-first.html
Excerpts:
Filed
13 September 4
Kathy Faulkner
District Clerk
Comal District
CAUSE NO. C-2013-1082B
MONIQUE RATHBUN IN THE DISTRICT COURT
v. 2071"' JUDICIAL DISTRICT
DAVID MISCAVIGE, RELIGIOUS
TECHNOLOGY CENTER, CHURCH
OF SCIENTOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL, STEVEN
GREGORY SLOAT, AND
MONTY DRAKE COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
FIRST AMENDED PETITION
TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
The Plaintiff, Monique Rathbun, brings this action against the Defendants, David
Miscavige, Religious Technology Center Church of Scientology International
Steven Gregory Sloat, Monty Drake, Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow, and Ed
Bryan, and for causes of action shows the following:
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN
1. The Plaintiff intends to conduct discovery under Level 3 of Rule 190 of
the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
PARTIES AND SERVICE OF PROCESS
2. Mrs. Rathbun is a resident of Comal County, Texas. David Miscavige has
appeared herein and is being served by serving his counsel of record, Lamont A.
Jefferson, Haynes Boone, LLP, 112 E. Pecan Street, Suite 1200, San Antonio, Texas
78205-1540. Religious Technology Center has appeared herein and is being served by
serving its counsel of record, Lamont A. Jefferson, Haynes Boone, LLP, 112 E. Pecan
Street, Suite 1200, San Antonio, Texas 78205-1540. Church of Scientology International
has appeared herein and is being served by serving its counsel of record, Les J. Strieber
Davis, Cedillo Mendoza, McCombs Plaza, Suite 500, 755 E. Mulberry Ave., San
Antonio, Texas 78212. Steven Gregory Sloat is an individual residing in Houston
(Bellaire), Texas. He may be served by serving him at .4907 Beech Street, Bellaire, Texas
77401. Monty Drake is an individual residing in Granbury, Hood County, Texas. He
may be served by serving him at 1620 Malibu Bay Ct., Granbury, Texas 76048.
3. Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow, is a California resident doing business
in Texas. He may be served with process and this pleading by serving the Secretary of
State of Texas at 1019 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78701, as its agent for service. A
copy of same may be mailed to Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow at 26501 Torrey
Pines, Newhall, Santa Clarita, CA 91321-2235.
4. Ed Bryan is a California resident doing business in Texas. He may be
served with process and this pleading by serving the Secretary of State of Texas at 1019
Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78701, as its agent for service. A copy of same may be
mailed to Ed Bryan at 2808 N. Naomi Street, Burbank, CA 91504~2023.
SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION
5. This action is a suit for injunctive relief and damages in an amount within
the jurisdictional limits of this Court. The Plaintiff seeks monetary relief over $1,000,000.
PERSONAL JURISDICTION
6. Mr. Miscavige, RTC, CSI, Mr. Labow, and Mr. Bryan are subject to
personal jurisdiction in Texas. Texas courts have general jurisdiction over Mr.
Miscavige, RTC, CSI, Mr. Labow and Mr. Bryan because they have a substantial
connection with Texas due to their continuing and systematic contacts purposefully
directed toward Texas. Also, Texas courts have specific jurisdiction over these
Defendants because they have a substantial connection with Texas due to the fact that this
cause of action arises out of or relates to their contacts with Texas. Mr. Sloat and Mr.
Drake are citizens and residents of Texas, where they do business.
VENUE
7. Comal County is a county of proper venue, because it is a county in which
a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred and are still
occurring.
8. Monique Rathbun (formerly, Monique Carle) was 33 years old in 2005,
when she met and fell in love with her future husband, Mark Rathbun. Eventually, Mr.
and Mrs. Rathbun made their home in lngleside On The Bay, Texas, and they were wed
on July 3, 2010. Although this case involves Scientology, Mrs. Rathbun is not, nor has
she ever been, a member of the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology is a
notorious, multi-billion dollar cult.
9. Mrs. Rathbun learned at the outset of her romance with Mr. Rathbun that
he was a former member of the Church of Scientology. In fact, Mr. Rathbun had devoted
27 years of his life to the service of Scientology. He was the second highest ranking
official in Scientology's hierarchy. Mr. Rathbun worked directly with David Miscavige,
Scientology's supreme leader. Mr. Miscavige, who refers to himself as the "Pope of
Scientology," wields absolute control over all Scientology corporate operations,
including the operation made the basis of this suit.
10. By 2004, Mr. Rathbun realized that he could no longer abide Mr.
Miscavige's illegal and immoral misconduct, especially Miscavige's physical and mental
abuse of devoted Scientology clergy. Mr. Rathbun escaped from Scientology's secretive,
secure compound in the California desert, and made his way to South Texas, where he
lived in anonymity. Mr. Rathbun's disappearance from his life in Scientology was so
effective that he was rumored to be dead. In fact, it was reported in Wikipedia that he had
died of cancer. During those quiet years, Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun met, married, and began
their new life on the Texas coast.
11. Mr. Rathbun was living in relative seclusion in Texas. He had no Contact
with his family and friends, who remained in Scientology and who were prohibited by the
Church of Scientology from having any communication or connection with him. There is
a department within the Church of Scientology dedicated to full--scale attack against
anyone who questions or criticizes Mr. Miscavige's reign over the Scientology
corporations. That organization is called the Office of Special Affairs OSA
employs a cadre of lawyers, investigators, public relations personnel, and shady
operatives to destroy anyone identified as an attacker of Scientology. For several years,
Mr. Rathbun kept quiet and avoided the attention of OSA.
12. In 2009, Mr. Rathbun exercised his rights under the Texas and United
States Constitutions to speak out against Mr. Miscavige's criminal mistreatment of
Scientology clergy. The Plaintiff, Monique Rathbun, did not join her husband in speaking
out concerning Scientology issues, nor has she ever taken a public position regarding
Scientology. Her few public comments have related to the ongoing harassrnents against
her husband and her. Mrs. Rathbun was never a member of the Church of Scientology.
In no Way was she an "attacker" of Scientology. Her only involvement was her marriage
to a prominent former Scientologist.
13. Nevertheless, Mrs. Rathbun has been intentionally targeted by OSA
merely because of her relationship with Mr. Rathbun. Under Scientology's written
policies and procedures, it is "fair game" to threaten that which an enemy seeks to
protect. To Scientology, Mr. Rathbun is an enemy, and his beloved wife is "that which he
seeks to protect." Accordingly, OSA and its co--defendants have engaged in three years
of ruthlessly aggressive misconduct against Mrs. Rathbun. This abusive campaign
continued, unabated, as of the filing of this suit.
14. The Defendants have worked around the clock for three years to destroy
Mrs. Rathbun. She has been harassed, insulted, surveilled, photographed, videotaped,
defamed, and humiliated to such a degree as to shock the conscience of any decent, law-
abiding person. She has been subjected to numerous, aggressive attempts to intimidate
her. Each and all of the Defendants have participated enthusiastically in this abuse,
without regard to Mrs. Rathbun's basic rights as a human being. She has been targeted at
home, at work, and anywhere else that she happens to be.
15. As a direct result of the Defendants' relentless campaign, Mrs. Rathbun
and her husband were driven from their cherished home in Ingleside On The Bay. They
moved to a more secluded residence in Comal County in the hope of obtaining the
ordinary privacy and tranquility to which they are entitled. Unfortunately, their respite
was short-lived. The Defendants have resumed their activities against Mrs. Rathbun in
Comal County. Mrs. Rathbun believes that she has no choice but to bring this suit to end
the Defendants' assault upon her privacy, her tranquility and peace of mind, her right to
work, and her right to freely associate with friends and co--workers free from intrusion,
surveillance, harassment, and embarrassment.
ADDITIONAL JURISDICTIONAL FACTS
16. David Miscavige and RTC have complained that the Plaintiffs Original
Petition failed to plead specific facts to support personal jurisdiction over them in Texas.
Plaintiff disagrees, but in an abundance of caution, the following additional factual
allegations are provided.
17. This case arises from a planned, calculated, multiyear operation of
Scientology's Office of Special Affairs in Texas. To the profound suffering of
Mrs. Rathbun, she has been the innocent victim of OSA's primary function -- the
destruction of anyone deemed an enemy of David Miscavige and/or Scientology. David
Miscavige is the absolute, unquestioned authority in Scientology's corporate activities,
and he decides who is an enemy to be attacked.
18. Although it is ostensibly an office within the Church of Scientology
International, OSA reports directly to David Miscavige at RTC. Mr. Miscavige's personal
obsession is the "handling" of Scientology defectors, termed "Squirrels" or "Suppressive
Persons". The more significant the defecting Scientologist, the more obsessive is Mr.
Miscavige's response.
19. No defector from the Church of Scientology is more prominent than Mr.
Rathbun, which explains OSA's "scorched-earth" campaign against him, and its
willingness to attack even his innocent wife. Mr. Miscavige was particularly concerned
about Mr. Rathbun, because of their close, long-term working relationship.
20. In 2004, Mr. Rathbun escaped on a from Scientology's
secretive desert compound in California. The level of violence and human rights abuses
committed by, and at the direction of, Mr. Miscavige had risen dangerously. Mr. Rathbun
fled to Texas where he lived quietly, away from the attention of Mr. Miscavige and his
OSA thugs. It was during this peaceful interlude that the Rathbuns began their
relationship.
21. In 2009, Mr. Rathbun broke his silence and spoke to the national media
about Mr. Miscavige's shocking culture of violence in Scientology's desert compound. In
the eyes of Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Rathbun became his primary enemy. It was for such
enemies that Mr. Miscavige created the Office of Special Affairs.
22. Mr. Miscavige is the one and only person in the Church of Scientology
who may authorize a destructive OSA campaign, such as the one undertaken against the
Rathbuns. Thus, according to the routine, consistent, decades-long practice of the
Scientology organizations, Mr. Miscavige authorized OSA's campaign against the
Rathbuns. Consistent with Mr. Miscavige's longtime, established habit, he personally
monitored and micromanaged OSA's operations against the Rathbuns.
23. In 2009, Linda Hamel, the head of OSA, dispatched OSA's top agents to
Texas. Paul Marrick and Greg Arnold were pulled off of their decades~long surveillance
of former Scientology leader, Pat Broeker, and sent to Ingleside On The Bay, Texas to
plan a sophisticated surveillance operation against the Rathbuns. OSA already had a
Texas agent, Monty Drake, in place, but Marrick and Arnold were needed because of
their superior skills.
24. Mr. Miscavige, RTC, and OSA had employed Monty Drake in Texas
since the 1990's. Mr. Miscavige was well aware of Monty Drake, whose name Mr.
Miscavige thought was humorous, and Whose investigative reports were handed to Mr.
Miscavige for his personal attention.
25. Mr. Marrick and Mr. Arnold carried out their Texas assignment for OSA.
They regularly reported by telephone to Ms. Hamel during their work in Texas. They also
submitted a written report to Ms. Hamel. The report detailed their observations,
evaluation, and recommendations for the OSA operation against the Rathbuns in
Ingleside On The Bay. Over their long career with OSA and RTC, Ms. Hamel passed
information and reports from Marrick and Arnold directly to Mr. Miscavige, code named
"The Duke".
26. Later, after OSA's outrageous "Squirrel Busters" operation against the
Rathbuns became notorious in the media, Ms. Hamel, the head of OSA who reports
directly to Mr. Miscavige, replied that "we" sent the Squirrel Busters to Texas to "make
Marty implode."
27. On or about May 25, 2010, Warren McShane, President of RTC, made a
report to the Sheriff of Riverside County, California concerning a recent Scientology
Defector. Mr. McShane reported to the Sheriff, as follows:
"Mr. McShane . . . began to suspect that [the defector] would attempt to
meet up with Marty Rathbun, who was described to me as a former church
member, and now Church of Scientology antagonist. Mr. McShane told
me RTC had previously contracted with a private security firm in the State
of Texas to monitor Mr. Rathburfs activities. Mr. McShane contacted the
security firm and provided them with [the defector's] photo and
information and asked that he (McShane) be contacted in the event [the
defector was seen meeting with Mr. Rathbun. According to Mr. McShane,
[the defector] was spotted by the security detail on April 24, 2010 meeting
with Mr. Rathbun at a restaurant in the City of Ingleside, Texas."
"Mr. McShane summoned (4) church members/employees who know [the
defector] the best and sent them to Texas to attempt to contact him and
perhaps persuade him to return to the facility in Hemet,
Mr. Miscavige has often said that the only reason he keeps Mr. McShane in his position
at RTC is that Mr. McShane is "an unusually good liar." Presumably, however, Mr.
McShane had no reason to lie to the Riverside, California Sheriffs Office about RTC's
ongoing activities in Texas.
28. The Squirrel Busters operation against the Rathbuns is an important basis
of this lawsuit. Ed Bryan was sent by OSA from California to join the Squirrel Busters in
Texas.
On July 13, 2011, Mr. Bryan wrote the following conceming the Church's Texas
operation against the Rathbuns:
"This is in co-ordination with OSA Int. [Office of Special Affairs --
Church of Scientology International]. They are calling the shots and quite
frankly I don't think it is very effective. The reporters came to our house
the other day and we didn't tell them very much. Our main guy went back
to discuss with them a different strategy. The rat [Rathbun] is getting more
brazen and yesterday I actually had a 1 minute comm cycle [conversation]
with him while he was on a walk. The guy is nuttier than a fruitcake. He's
gone off the deep end. Taking him down will be no easy task. I just hope
he self destructs before he does more damage to our church. He has gotten
to some and I just can't think with how stupid they are to actually
believe what he is saying." Bracketed information added.
29. Another Squirrel Buster from California was Joanne Wheaten. While she
was in Texas, hounding the Rathbuns, she received regular written instructions from
OSA, micromanaging the Squirrel Busters' activities. No detail was too trivial to escape
the attention of Mr. Miscavige's agents, as exemplified by the following excerpts from an
email to her, dated September 3, 2011:
"You should brief the SQBS [Squirrel Busters] on the following:
couple of points need to be handled. The SQBS still look downstat
[derogatory term among Scientologists]. They went out without their shirts
tucked in and it looks unprofessional on camera. The badges also look
tacky. These points still need to be upgraded corrected.
"He [Rathbun] is much more enturbulated [Scientology term for a
disturbed state of mind] when people ignore him and go right on telling
him that he is not a Scientologist, that he is a suppressive person, that we
love and totally support COB [David Miscavige] and all he is doing for
Scientology, that Rathbun is a complete disgrace, is an insane
squirrel whose entire purpose is to destroy the tech. He is anti-Scientology
as all his actions show.
"That's the viewpoint they need to have. We love COB [David Miscavige]
and hate SP squirrels like you.
"People who are to deal with Rathbun need to read some references and
drill. They are not to engage in any more discussions with him."
Bracketed information added.
30. Bert Leahy, a non--scientologist videographer from Dallas, Texas, was
hired under false pretenses by the Squirrel Busters to join them in Ingleside On The Bay.
Mr. Leahy then learned the true nature of the job from an unsavory character operating
under the false name of "Dave Stater". In actuality, Mr. Stater was Dave Lubow, a
California private investigator, who has performed "dirty tricks" operations for Mr.
Miscavige, RTC, and OSA for more than 30 years. Mr. Lubow's unscrupulous nature is
prized by Mr. Miscavige. Mr. Lubow told Mr. Leahy in no uncertain terms:
"Our goal is to make Marty's life a living hell . . . with every means
possible of impeding his everyday living, and make it so miserable for him
and his neighbors that his neighbors will want him to move."
The virulence of the Squirrel Busters was also directed against Mrs. Rathbun.
Joanne Wheaton told Mr. Leahy that Mrs. Rathbun "made her blood boil" and
that she "couldn't stand the sight of her [Mrs. Rathbur1]."
31. Mr. Leahy soon sickened of his participation in the Squirrel
Busters' Texas operation against the Rathbuns. But, before he quit, he observed
that the Squirrel Busters seemed to have an unlimited budget, and its leaders
received instructions and made reports by cell phone to Los Angeles. OSA's
headquarters are located in a Los Angeles Scientology building, along with
offices of Mr. Miscavige and RTC.
32. On July 20, 2011, the attorney for Squirrel Busters Productions,
Richard W. Rogers, of Corpus Christi, Texas wrote to the County Attorney of
San Patricio County, where the Squirrel Busters' operation against the Rathbuns
was ongoing. The letter is unremarkable, except for the fact that it was cc'd to
Allan Cartwright, OSA's Director of Legal Affairs. Mr. Cartwright answers to Mr.
Miscavige at RTC.
33. The official spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, Karin
Pouw, has written:
further wish to point out that the Church has put out videos which show
Rathbun lying in his own words, based on his own statements. To that end
I fi1I'll'l6I' invite you to watch the video at this link showing Rathbun's
nature:
The video footage in question was the Squirrel Busters' video recording of the Rathbuns
in Texas. Previously, the Church denied any connection to the Squirrel Busters.
Furthermore, the referenced website is one of approximately 35 "hate sites" established
by the Church to attack Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun.
34. Texas private investigator, Monty Drake, whose name Mr. Miscavige
found to be so amusing, carried out many of the Defendants' operations against the
Rathbuns. Of significance, he entered into two 3-year leases of a house across the street
from the Rathbuns' home in Ingleside On The Bay, Texas. Mr. Drake installed in the
leased house an array of high--powered surveillance video and still cameras aimed at and
into the Rathbuns' home. The cameras were connected to a computer system that stored
and transmitted the Rathbuns' images to California to satisfy Mr. obsessive
interest.
35. None of the Defendants' tortious activities in Texas, which continued
until this Court's Temporary Restraining Order was issued, could have been performed
without authorization by David Miscavige, who is the head of RTC and the unquestioned
ruler of all Scientology organizations. No one else in any Scientology organization has
the authority to approve such an operation. Furthermore, any and all of these unlawful
activities in Texas could have been stopped instantly by a single word from Mr.
Miscavige. Mr. Miscavige approved and ratified these activities. Official and unofficial
Church spokespersons and publications have vilified and attacked the Rathbuns
throughout their ordeal. Church funds have financed the Rathbun campaign in Texas, and
Church personnel have staffed it.
36. Mr. Miscavige may have been careful to keep his body outside of Texas,
but he personally directed several OSA operations in Texas before the Rathbun operation.
Established principles of fair play and substantial justice dictate that he should be made to
answer these allegations concerning his deliberate, tortious activities against Texas
citizens in a Texas courtroom, before a Texas jury.
CAUSES OF ACTION
37. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. The Defendants'
misconduct, as described above, constitutes intentional infliction of emotional distress,
for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants acted intentionally or recklessly,
and Mrs. Rathbun has suffered, and is suffering, severe emotional distress. The
Defendants' misconduct is extreme and outrageous, and proximately caused Mrs.
Rathbun's emotional distress. No alternative cause of action would provide a remedy for
the severe emotional distress caused by the Defendants' misconduct.
38. Tortious Interference With Contract. The Defendants' misconduct, as
described above, constitutes tortious interference with contract, for which Mrs. Rathbun
hereby sues. Mrs. Rathbun has had a valid contract of employment with her employer.
The Defendants have willfully and intentionally interfered with the contract. The
Defendants' interference has proximately caused injury to Mrs. Rathbun, and she has
incurred actual damages or loss.
39. Invasion of Privacy - Intrusion on Seclusion. The Defendants'
misconduct, as described above, constitutes invasion of privacy by intrusion on seclusion,
for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants intentionally intruded on Mrs.
Rathbun's solitude, seclusion, or private affairs. Such intrusion would be highly offensive
to a reasonable person. Mrs. Rathbun suffered injury as a result of the Defendants'
intrusion.
40. Invasion of Privacy Public Disclosure of Private Facts. The
Defendants' misconduct, as described above, constitutes invasion of privacy by public
disclosure of private facts, for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants
publicized information about Mrs. Rathbun's private life, which would be highly
offensive to a reasonable person, and which is not of legitimate public concern. Mrs.
Rathbun has suffered injury as a result of the Defendants' disclosure.
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
41. Mrs. Rathbun is entitled to a Temporary Restraining Order, Temporary
Injunction, and Permanent Injunction prohibiting the Defendants from interfering with
her employment, from invading her privacy, and from inflicting emotional distress upon
her. There is substantial risk of imminent harm and irreparable injury to Mrs. Rathbun.
Her damages, by their nature cannot be measured by any certain pecuniary standard. She
seeks ex parte consideration of this request for Temporary Restraining Order to prevent
further irreparable injury and to preserve the status quo pending a hearing on her request
for Temporary Injunction and final trial.
DAMAGES
42. Actual Damages. As a direct result of the Defendants' unlawful conduct,
Mrs. Rathbun has suffered and will continue to suffer recoverable actual damages within
the jurisdictional limits of this Court, including but not limited to, mental anguish
damages, loss of earning capacity, damage to reputation, and financial loss.
43. Exemplary Damages. The Defendants' unlawful conduct was of such a
degree and character as to make them liable for exemplary damages within the
jurisdictional limits of this Court.
VICARIOUS LIABILITY
44. The Defendants' misconduct, as described above, makes them liable for
each other's actions and the actions of their employees and agents under theories of
assisting or encouraging, assisting and participating, concert of action, conspiracy,
agency, partnership, joint enterprise, piercing the corporate Veil, and respondeat superior.
AMENDMENT AND OINDER
45. Mrs. Rathbun expressly reserves the right to amend her pleadings and to
join additional parties, as needed.
REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE
46. The Plaintiff requests that the Defendants disclose, pursuant to Texas Rule of
Civil Procedure 194, the information or material described in Rule
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Plaintiff prays that upon trial
hereof, she be awarded judgment against the Defendants for injunctive relief, actual
damages, exemplary damages, court costs, pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest,
and such other and further relief to which she may be justly entitled at law or in equity.
Respectfully submitted,
JEFFREY . C.
By: /2
Ray effref
State Bar Number 10613700
A. Dannette Mitchell
COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
AFFIDAVIT OF MONIQUE RATHBUN
Before me, the undersigned notary, on this day personally appeared Monique Rathbun,
the affiant, a person whose identity is known to me. After I administered an oath, affiant
testified:
1. "My name is Monique Rathbun. I am over 18 years of age, of sound mind, and
capable of making this affidavit. The facts stated in this affidavit are within my personal
knowledge and are true and correct.
2. I am married to Mark Rathbun, a prominent former Scientologist. For several
years, we led a quiet, rewarding life together on the Texas coast before the Defendants started
their campaign of harassment and intimidation against us.
3. In 2009, my husband broke his silence about Scientology. He gave national media
interviews about physical and mental abuse he witnessed at Scientology's headquarters in
California. I have never been a Scientolo gist. I gave no interviews, nor did I speak out publicly
concerning these matters.
4. Within a week of my husband's first media interviews, we were both put under
surveillance by Scientology operatives. We have now been living under this constant
surveillance and harassment for four years.
5. On several occasions when my husband travelled out of town, Scientologists
appeared at our home after dark to interrogate me aggressively. These unwelcome visitors
refused to give their names. Although I tried to be strong, this was frightening to me as a woman
at home alone. When I would try to call the police, the Scientologists would flee.
6. Anonymous callers phoned our home and threatened us. Scientology operatives
openly followed me as I drove to and from work.
7. In 2Cl11, the Scientology operatives leased a five bedroom home less than 200
yards from our residence. This outpost was occupied by at least five Scientology operatives
whose full--time job was to make our lives a living hell, as one of them has publicly admitted.
They usually wore shirts identifying themselves as Scientologists.
8. We couldn't even peacefully take our evening walk with our little dog, Chiquita.
The Scientology operatives used electronic surveillance to alert them whenever we left our
home. Within minutes of beginning our walk, the Scientology agents would approach us in a
golf cart with up to six cameras trained on us as they hurled insults and rude questions relating to
Scientology.
9. If we left home by car, we were inevitably followed by Scientology operatives
and tailed to wherever we went. We were then publicly assaulted and harassed wherever we
went, including restaurants and the beach. The Scientology agents harassed us in this fashion
for 199 days straight. Our neighbors and local government tried to help us, but the harassment
continued.
10. From 2010, to the present, the Scientologists have targeted me specifically for
harassment. They have worked to drive a wedge between me and my husband, family, and co-
workers. Scientology investigators have visited my mother, my father, my former husband, my
friends, and my co-workers. The investigators have falsely claimed to all of these contacts that
my life is at risk as long as I remain with my husband. These malicious allegations are hateful
and distressing.
ll. Presumably because I am a woman, the Defendants seem obsessed with my
sexuality. They sent workplace, which was very embarrassing. With their
constant surveillance of me, they knew when I was away from the office, at which time they sent
flowers to one of my female co-workers with a "romantic" message purporting to be from me.
Of course, this was distressing to me.
12. Scientology websites have published bizarre and sometimes vile allegations
against me, including false claims that I am a sexual pervert. They have even alleged that I am
not even a woman; secret sex--change operation. So, I have even had
my womanhood questioned as part of this sick campaign to inflict maximum emotional distress
on me.
13. Near the end of 2012, we discovered that Scientology private investigator, Monty
Drake of Granbury Texas, had leased for three years a residence across the street from our home
in Ingleside On The Bay. Behind the residence's blinds, peaking through small cut-outs, was an
array of high-powered still and video cameras pointed at, and into, our home.
14. Although we truly loved our home and our neighborhood on the Texas coast, I
could no longer take the constant harassment and lack of privacy. Although it cost us the loss of
$35,000 in lease/purchase equity, we moved to find refuge from the Defendants' harassment.
After extensive searching, we found what we believed was an acceptable home with sufficient
seclusion in Cornal County, Texas.
l5. Unfortunately, despite our new horne's apparent privacy, some or all of the
Defendants continued to watch our comings and goings from a distance, and to follow us when
we drove from home. Since July of 2013, the Defendants' activities against us have intensified.
They have leased undeveloped property adjacent to our homestead and installed surveillance
cameras directed at our property. Defendant Sloat has made contact with us under a false identity
and has provided preposterous, false stories to explain the surveillance cameras and why he is
moving an RV onto this undeveloped property.
16. I am a private person by nature. The continuous and aggressive invasion
of privacy to which i have been subjected, and the related personal and abuse, has,
and continues to be, a cause of great distress to me. it has cost me my privacy, my peace of
mind, and I believe it is calculated to damage my relationship with my husband, and his
relationship with my family and friends so as to injure me. Because I have been subjected to
harassment that is habitual, sadistic and categorical, i also live in fear that the Defendants will
resume their efforts to discredit me with my co--worl-cers, employer, family and friends."
"Further affiant sayeth not."
Monique Rathbun
STATE) or TEXAS
COUNTY OF COMAL
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN T0 BEFORE ME, by the said Monique Rathbun, on this
the ll 3 day of August, 2013, to certify which witness my hand and seal of office.
V-l
i
CHRISTINE A. THOMPSON
Notary Public, State of Texas
'2 .3 My Commission Expires
"3 .
April 22, 2014
COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
AFFIDAVIT OF MARK RATHBUN
"My name is Mark Rathbun. I am also known as Marty Rathbun. I am over the age of
eighteen (18) years, of sound mind, and otherwise capable of making this affidavit. I have
personal knowledge Of the facts and statements contained herein, and all are true and correct."
1. served with Mr. Miscavige in Scientology's Sea Organization for 27 years. From 1982
to 2004, I answered directly to Mr. Miscavige. As Inspector General of Religious Technology
Center I was Mr. Miscavige's second in command. Mr. Miscavige and I were the only
Scientologists ever awarded Scientology's "Medal of Honor" by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. In
the history of Scientology, no other Church executive worked with Mr. Miscavige more closely,
for a longer period of time, than I did.
2. "The complex network of Scientology organizations is run by a shadow organization
known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org. It is so named because it was formed originally by
Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in 1967 aboard a ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea. The
Sea Org is a paramilitary hierarchy. Each Sea Org member holds a naval rank, from Swamper
(initiate) to Commodore, the title held by L. Ron Hubbard during his life. Sea Org members vow
by contract to serve for a billion years. The Sea Org was organized from the beginning by
Hubbard to be amorphous and mobile so as to evade criminal or civil liabilities. The Sea Org
was Hubbard's ultimate answer to his own description of the philosophic bases for Scientology
organizations' legal structure:
'If anybody tried to attack a Scientology organization and pick it up and move it
out of the perimeter or go over the hills with it today -- this happened to us once
why, they would find themselves involved in the most confounded weird mass of
legal -- well, it is just like quicksand. Quicksand It's an interesting trick. Every
time they shoot at you on the right side of the horse, you 're on the left side of the
horse; and then they prove conclusively you 're on the left side of the horse, you
prove conclusively that you 're on the right side of the horse. They go mad afier a
while. This is what the basic legal structure is.
3. "Since the 1967 formation of the controlling, yet amorphous Sea Org, the corporate
structures of Scientology have come and gone, and changed and reformed, many times. The
only significant factor that has remained constant through Scientology's many corporate
transformations is that the highest ranking Sea Org member is in complete control.
4. "Until Hubbard's death in January of 1986, that controlling leader was Hubbard himself,
the Commodore of the Sea Org. Since Hubbard's death, that controlling leader has been David
Miscavige. Miscavige has held complete control of all Scientology organizations as the highest
ranking Sea Org officer. Since Hubbard's death, Miscavige has been the Sea Org's only Captain,
and no one holds a higher rank. Over the years, Miscavige has temporarily bestowed a number
of brevet (temporary) Captain ranks to other senior Sea Org members. He has done so, as he
explained to me, for the purpose of obscuring his own unquestioned control of all of Scientology
as its Sea Org Captain. For several years, I carried the temporary rank of brevet Captain, but
Miscavige retained absolute control as the only permanent Captain of the Sea Org.
5. "Until his death, Hubbard controlled all of Scientology. The Scientology organizations
shielded him from civil and criminal liabilities by maintaining the fiction that he was merely the
"Founder of Scientology." His position was described as an arm's length, passive, serni-retired
position uninvolved with the management of Scientology operations. All the while, the
thousands of Sea Org personnel answered to him as their all--powerful commander. Directions
from Sea Org command took precedence over all of the corporate charters, bylaws, and articles
of incorporation of the myriad Scientology corporations staffed by Sea Org management.
6. "In 1981, I was recruited by Mr. Miscavige from my position in the personal office of L.
Ron Hubbard to join a critical Sea Org mission. Mr. Hubbard had been driven into seclusion by
federal prosecutors and civil litigants who were making a determined effort to pierce the
Scientology corporate veil in order to indict and sue Mr. Hubbard as the effective head of all
Scientology operations.
7. "Mr. Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, and ten other high--level Sea Org members
were convicted in federal court for obstruction of justice. They were members of Scientology's
Guardians Office. The Guardians Office had carried out the largest domestic infiltration of the
United States Government in American history, and these co--conspirators went to federal prison.
Due to the Guardians Office scandal, Hubbard directed Miscavige to accomplish three major
aims:
(1) re-create an intelligence, PR and legal network to replace the disgraced Guardians
Office in a way that would protect Scientology's spying and harassment operations by using
buffer corporations and new levels of security;
(2) by any means necessary, end the multitude of
criminal and civil threats pending against Hubbard and Scientology; and
(3) create a new
corporate structure that would allow the Sea Org to operate as it always had, but with legal
buffers in place that would prevent future 'enemies' from getting to Hubbard or other top Sea
Org officers.
8. "We accomplished the creation of a new intelligence, PR and legal machine by
establishing the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). Under Hubbard's and Miscavige's close
supervision, I organized OSA to effectively continue to silence potential critics and defectors
without exposing Hubbard, Miscavige or the Scientology organizations to legal liability. For the
next five years, until Hubbard's death, we worked to extinguish his outstanding criminal and
civil liabilities. I was also involved in the corporate re-organization that was intended to buffer
Hubbard and Miscavige from liability.
9. year after Hubbard's death, Mr. Miscavige informed me that he needed a defensible
corporate position to enjoy the protections of the new corporate structure. To accomplish this
goal, Miscavige used his Sea Org rank to seize control of all Scientology corporations.
Miscavige and I accomplished this by carrying out a coup at the highest, controlling corporation
in the Scientology hierarchy, Religious Technology Center (RTC). Miscavige and I, with two
other high-ranking Sea Org members, dressed in fully decorated Sea Org naval officer uniforms,
forcibly expelled the officers and directors of RTC and coerced them to relinquish their corporate
positions to us. If asked, all the Sea Org members involved, would falsely swear that the changes
at RTC were done in the normal course of its corporate business pursuant to long-standing policy
that testifying against another Scientologist is a high crime.
10. became a Director and the President of RTC. For weeks Miscavige struggled with
creating a position for himself that would afford the full autocratic control befitting his Captain
rank while shielding him from corporate and legal responsibility for the consequences of his tight
control. Mr. Miscavige finally settled on the title 'Chairman of the Board, Religious Technology
Center.' While never holding a corporate officer's position, Miscavige could legally claim he
simply passively passed upon the proposals of the corporate and ecclesiastical officers of RTC in
the same manner as in any legitimate corporation. According to RTC's articles and bylaws, its
only authorized function is to police the 'proper use of the trademarks of Dianetics and
Scientology.'
11. "As the all-powerful head of the Sea Organization, David Miscavige operated in much
the same manner as Hubbard. Miscavige created for himself the public appearance of an arm's
length title for the outside world to see. Beneath the appearance, he exercised total control over
all Scientology organizations through his supreme rank as Captain of the Sea Org.
12. "In fact, from the day our forced corporate takeover began in March of 1987, Miscavige
ran the entire Scientology corporate network with no regard for corporate separateness or
controls. He managed with an obsessive, micro-managing style. For the next 17 years that I
worked as Miscavige's direct aide, he ran the Scientology network as as a naval captain
runs a military vessel. All the while we communicated to the world at large, including through
our own false declarations, that Miscavige's role was the same as that of any corporate board
chairman. We claimed that he operates through the RTC board of directors to oversee the
operational management of RTC's corporate and ecclesiastical officers. We also falsely denied
that Miscavige was in any way involved in the management of any Scientology corporation.
13. "Meanwhile, Miscavige set up a mechanism to control Church Of Scientology
International (CSI), Scientology's primary management corporation. Miscavige created an
Authorization, Verification and Correction (AVC) department in RTC. Miscavige required that
no strategy, program, project, or order of any kind could leave CS1 to any Scientology unit
anywhere without going through RTC's AVC department. AVC's original mandate was that
nothing could issue from CSI unless it was consistent with and designed to implement the
policies of Commodore L. Ron Hubbard. Soon, however, Miscavige changed the rules so that
nothing could issue from CS1 except orders or programs implementing Miscavige's own
commands.
14. "Over the next few years, the entire Scientology corporate and ecclesiastical (Sea Org)
organization came to equate as Miscavige became known, with "Commodore", as L.
Ron Hubbard was known. COB's orders could not be questioned or disobeyed. Through his
AVC department's control of every communication emanating from CS1, Miscavige exercised
complete control of CS1, Scientology's main operating entity. I witnessed Miscavige's control
enforced without question from anyone in RTC, CS1, or any other Scientology corporation for
the next 17 years.
15. "By the mid-1990's, Miscavige's every utterance was ruthlessly enforced throughout all
Scientology corporations. He regularly strode through Church of Scientology 1nternational's
California headquarters while barking verbal orders to anyone and everyone, from the janitors to
managers responsible for Scientology management across the world.
16. "Miscavige was always accompanied by an entourage of personal staff. A staff member
always carried a tape recorder to memorialize every word he spoke. Just before any audio tape
would run out, another recorder would be started and held by an assistant inches from his mouth
so as not to miss a single word when the first tape was replaced. Runners were on hand to rush
every completed audio tape to COB's secretarial unit. There, several typists were employed, 24
hours per day, typing every word from Miscavige's mouth, from the moment he awoke to the
moment he laid his head to rest at night. The secretarial unit culled almost every sentence from
the transcripts that contained a direction or order Miscavige issued during his daily tours through
the offices of Scientology corporations. Those excerpts were issued as written orders to the
people Miscavige had directed his comments or orders to during his tours. The orders were so
frequent and voluminous that massive rows of high--~density files were filled with binders of
Miscavige's orders to RTC, CS1, and other Scientology corporations. An elaborate 'time-
machine' system was employed to track compliance with Miscavige's orders. The orders were
tracked by computers, generating automatic nudges to the recipients to send evidence of
compliance. Escalating levels of punishment were devised and enforced for non--compliance
over time.
17. "The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is the legal, public relations, and intelligence
network of CS1. One or more network representatives are employed by every Scientology
organization across the world. Each of them is operated and managed by OSA International
(OSA INT) which is housed within CS1. Although OSA is formally answerable to CSI's
management, from OSA's inception in the early l980's until my departure in December of 2004,
the formal management structure was a sham. OSA was carefully micromanaged by David
Miscavige. He exercised his control through me, Inspector General of RTC, and Mike Rinder,
Commanding Officer of OSA International.
18. "Between 1982 and 2004go-between for Miscavige and OSA.
The manner in which we shielded Miscavige was elaborate. Much of Miscavige's control of
OSA was done "off the record." Every evening 1 would receive an intelligence briefing in
writing from OSA. The briefing was usually several pages summarizing reports from private
investigators and Scientologists serving as undercover spies watching and interacting with
Scientology critics. The written briefing, contrary to established corporate policy, had no routing
information on it. That is, the daily briefing had no indication who wrote the report or who it
was directed to. If a report ever got out of the Church, it could not, on its face, be used to
incriminate any of its authors or recipients.
19. "After I read the report each day, I was instructed by Miscavige to put it into a fresh
envelope with no routing information on it. I then personally carried the envelope into
Miscavige's office and set it on his desk. I was the only person in Scientology, aside from his
wife and secretary, ever authorized such access to his desk. When Mr. Miscavige read the
reports, he would enter my office with the report in hand. He would say 'beat it' to my secretary
or anyone else who happened to be in my office. Once any visitors had left, Mr. Miscavige
would discuss the contents of the report. Often, he would instruct me to order OSA to direct an
operative or private investigator to find out something or do something concerning the target of
infiltration or investigation. On other occasions, Mr. Miscavige would joke about what was
reported about a particular target, or rant about the target's activity. When Miscavige was done
discussing the daily OSA briefing with me, he would throw the report onto my desk. That was
my cue to pick it up and shred it after he left the office and before anyone was permitted to return
to my office.
20. "For 22 years, my schedule was to wake up at least one hour before David Miscavige's
scheduled wake up time so that I could collect all important information on any matter of
concern to him being handled by the OSA network. Every morning, I was required to brief
Miscavige verbally on any major developments on matters handled by the OSA network around
the world or matters concerning security. My briefing to him would begin with major problems
which he insisted he know about. My briefing included reports about the handling of media
stories, investigations, legal cases, security breaches, and potential security situations. That
briefing would last anywhere from a few minutes on a quiet day with no major developments, to
all day when something was afoot that riveted Miscavige's attention. Miscavige would issue
orders to OSA that I had to accurately note on paper.
21. "After the conference with Miscavige, there were a number of options available for
issuing his orders, depending on their scope and the level of security required. Most often, I
would call Mike Rinder, into my office and I would brief him verbally on Miscavige's directives.
Mr. Rinder would then return to his own office and type up the orders as written directives to
OSA. Those directives would be worded as if the orders were originated by him, with no
reference to me or RTC, and especially not to Mr. Miscavige. On many occasions, Mr.
Miscavige would require Mr. Rinder's presence during briefings in which he wanted more detail
than usual, or wanted to issue more detailed orders than usual. In such cases, it would be my
responsibility to follow up to verify that Mr. Rinder relayed Mr. Miscavige's orders to OSA as
Rinder's own orders.
22. "Mr. Rinder and I were ordered by Mr. Miscavige to keep secret virtually all of our
communications, and to specifically keep them secret from any other managers or staff with CS1
and RTC. All other CSI managers had little to no knowledge of any matters affecting
Scientology from the world outside of the Church. Except for OSA staff, Sea Org members have
little contact with the media or the world outside of their corporate duties.
23. "The highest priority OSA matters that I had to monitor and report on several times a day
to Mr. Miscavige were ones that involved his name. If a staff member lefi unannounced from
the Scientology corporate headquarters, and the person had any personal knowledge of Mr.
Miscavige by way of regular contact with him, I was required to personally direct a massive
dragnet utilizing Sea Org staff from RTC and CSI, and private investigators, to hunt down that
staff member. This occurred on average a couple of times per year. I was micromanaged on
such manhunts by Mr. Miscavige personally. I would make sure the person was contacted, and
put under control and sometimes order ongoing surveillance through OSA that could last up to
several years.
24. "If a journalist mentioned anything about interest in Mr. Miscavige, I directed and
monitored every conversation between a church representative and that journalist. I prepared the
staff member in advance and debriefed him afterward, all of which I reported directly to
Miscavige.
25. "If a lawsuit named or sought discovery that involved Miscavige, I oversaw every aspect
of that litigation until Miscavige was no longer subject to inquiry. During my tenure of more
than 20 years, Miscavige micromanaged every single action that was taken by any OSA staff
member, intelligence officer, private investigator or attomey related to that matter. No OSA
operation, whether or not it involved outside professionals, could be undertaken on any matter
potentially involving the name 'David Miscavige', without Miscavige's fully-informed and
direct authorization and direction. That rule included even the potential defection of a staff
member with only tangential information about Mr. Miscavige. OSA was founded on this
policy, and I instituted it and carried it out painstakingly for 22 years, from 1982 to 2004, when I
departed RTC.
26. "For more than 20 years, the Office of Special Affairs of the Church of
Scientology International answered to me. Under the close supervision of Mr. Miscavige, I
directed OSA's extensive, ongoing security, intelligence, "black ops", public relations, and
criminal and civil legal matters. Mr. Miscavige obsessively micromanaged OSA's handling of
perceived threats, including the threat of former Scientologists who complained of abuses
occurring in the Church.
27. have read the Declaration of David Miscavige in Support of Special Appearance in this
case. Mr. Miscavige's Declaration is false, for the factual reasons stated above and below:
A. Miscavige's false statement: "Prior to learning of this lawsuit, I had never heard
of nor did I have any knowledge of Defendants Mr. Sloat and Mr. Drake."
28. "Mr. Miscavige has known of the Church's employment of Monty Drake since the
l990's. Mr. Drake became Scientology's primary private investigator for Texas matters in the
early l990's. In 1996, Miscavige asked me Whether we had any private detectives in the State of
Texas. I told him that we retained Monty Drake, a private investigator in the Dallas area, who
we used to investigate a former RTC executive living in Dallas. Miscavige expressed amusement
at Mr. Drake's name, and questioned me whether "Monty Drake" was a real name or an
undercover name. I informed him that Monty Drake was a real name.
29. "David Miscavige ordered me on several occasions between 1996 and 2004, to have Mr.
Drake obtain both specific and general information on the family of Lisa McPherson. Lisa
McPherson was a young Scientologist who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology. I
relayed Mr. Miscavige's orders to Ben Shaw of Church of Scientology Flag Service
Organization and Linda Hamel of OSA. Both Ms. Hamel and Mr. Shaw sent me several reports
of Mr. Drake's investigations. I personally handed each of Mr. Drake's reports to Mr. Miscavige,
during the criminal and civil litigation concerning Ms. McPherson and her family.
30. "In the 1990's, I also personally delivered to Mr. Miscavige a number of Mr. Drake's
reports concerning the Church's multiyear investigation of Alan Walters, a former Scientologists
in Texas. Mr. Miscavige read these reports of the Texas investigation and used the information
to direct OSA's activities in Texas against Mr. Walters
B. Miscavige's false statements: have never availed myself of the privilege of
conducting activities Within the State of Texas." have not made any purposeful
contacts with the State of Texas seeking any benefit, advantage, or profit."
have not otherwise availed myself of the benefits and protection of Texas law."
31. "In addition to the facts stated above, the following facts demonstrate the falsity of Mr.
Miscavige's Declaration. Mr. Miscavige was intensely involved with the handling of the fallout
from the death of Lisa McPherson in Florida. He devised a strategy to bring legal action in
Texas, rather than Florida, against the executor of Ms. McPherson's estate. Mr. Miscavige said
that he did not want to litigate in the most obvious venue, Pinellas County, Florida, because he
believed it would be hostile to Scientology. He ordered me to execute his Texas litigation plan.
32. "As I carried out Mr. Miscavige's Texas strategy, he repeatedly stressed to me that no
Texas suit could be filed unless I found Texas legal counsel so connected to the local judiciary
as to assure victory to the Church.
33. "During the several weeks that I implemented Mr. Miscavige's orders in Texas, I
reported to him daily. After researching the issue of which Texas attorneys to retain, I
recommended the Dallas law firm of Jenkins Gilchrist. Mr. Miscavige ordered me to bring the
attorneys to the Church's facilities in the Tampa, Florida area for a two--day tour, briefing, and
indoctrination.
34. "Mr. Miscavige ordered me to gain the Texas attorneys' confidence so they would reveal
to me the extent of their connections in the U.S. District Court in the Tyler Division of the
Eastern District of Texas. After my discussions with them, the attorneys agreed to return to
Texas and thoroughly investigate to find the Tyler attorney with the strongest ties to the three
federal judges in U.S. District Court there.
35. reported to Mr. Miscavige the details of my conversations with the Jenkins Gilchrist
attorneys. Mr. Miscavige expressed mistrust of the attorneys' representations. He ordered me to
tell them that their continued retainer was conditioned on finding local counsel with such
connections that he could walk unannounced into the chambers of any of the three federal judges
to chat.
36. "The Jenkins and Gilchrist lawyers reported to me that they had found the most
connected lawyer in the Tyler Federal Courts and they provided me with many relevant details
about the attorney's connections. I reported these favorable details to Mr. Miscavige. He
expressed disgust, however, with my failure to find a Texas lawyer whose connections would
guarantee victory to the Church.
37. "Mr. Miscavige threw a tantrum and called me a loser". He lectured me that he
was the only Scientologist with the dedication to stick his neck out and guarantee victory. He
said he would have to be the one to personally handle this flap, as he had handled every other
major problem of CSI's Office of Special Affairs. After more ranting and raving at me, he
ordered me to hire the local counsel selected by Jenkins Gilchrist, with the warning that "if
they don't win, you are dead!"
38. "In December of 1995, David Miscavige ordered me to send Scientologist, Bennetta
Slaughter, a former Texan living in Florida, to the funeral of Lisa McPherson in Dallas, Texas.
His orders were for Ms. Slaughter to "handle" Lisa McPherson's grieving mother and convince
her not to investigate the circumstances of her daughter's death. Miscavige instructed that if Ms.
Slaughter had to resort to paying the mother to forget the loss of her daughter, we were willing to
'lose a couple hundred grand for this to go away.' Ms. Slaughter carried out the mission to
Dallas, while reporting to me. Ms. Slaughter reported that, in spite of her family connections,
her efforts to cozy up to Mrs. McPherson were rebuffed and she never established enough
communication to suggest paying her. I reported all the details to Mr. Miscavige. Mr.
Miscavige cursed about Ms. Slaughter and then issued a number of orders about
covering up the circumstances of Lisa McPherson's death.
39. "In early 1996, Mr. Miscavige ordered me to send an OSA staff member, Brian
Anderson, to approach Mrs. McPherson in Texas to accomplish the same purpose as the
Slaughter mission. Mr. Miscavige briefed me in detail on how Mr. Anderson was to act so that
he could gain Mrs. McPherson's trust without betraying any details of her daughter's death. I
carried out Mr. Miscavige's orders and sent Mr. Anderson to Dallas, Texas. In Dallas, Mr.
Anderson asked to meet with Mrs. McPherson, but she rebuffed him. I reported all the details to
Mr. Miscavige. In response, Mr. Miscavige cursed about the incompetence of Mr. Anderson and
me.
40. "It is important to understand that Mr. Miscavige's consistent custom and practice for
more than 20 years was to closely monitor and micromanage every OSA operation dealing with
Scientologists who dared to leave the Church. His involvement intensified if the person had been
at a high level in the Church hierarchy and had personal knowledge of Mr. Miscavige's
activities. As noted above, I was the highest level officer in the Church after Mr. Miscavige, and
I worked directly with him for 27 years.
41. "No Scientologist or groups of Scientologists, including OSA, have authority to
undertake any intelligence operation or destructive campaign against a high--ranking defector
without specific approval from David Miscavige. Furthermore, if he orders any such activities to
proceed or to cease, his orders are carried out to the letter without question. He has total and
absolute authority in all branches and all functions of the Scientology corporations."
Mark Rathbun
"Further affiant sayeth not."
STATE or TEXAS
COUNTY OF COMAL
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, by the said Mark Rathbun, on this the
3% day of September, 2013, to certify which witness my hand and seal of office.
CHRISTINE A. THOMPSON
Notary Public, State of Texas
My Commission Expires
April 22, 2014
by Patrick Michels Published on Friday, September 13, 2013, at 12:04 CST
www.texasobserver.org/scientology-defectors-privacy-fight-sparks-epic-showdown-comal-county-court/
It reads like a half-baked Hollywood treatment.
A top official in the world’s most notorious church flees a secret compound and, presumed dead, escapes to a new life on the Texas coast. When he and his new wife are discovered, they’re so hounded by church enforcers that they haul the church to court for a restraining order. And now, inside a quaint historic courthouse in a Texas town, the church and all its big-time legal firepower must defend itself before a rural judge.
That’s the real-life story as Mark and Monique Rathbun tell it, and her lawsuit filed in Comal County last month spells it out in even more compelling detail. Before a dozen or more lawyers for the Church of Scientology and others she’s accused of stalking her, Monique Rathbun took the witness stand Thursday and described being stalked from one home to the next, harassed at work and followed overseas.
Les Strieber, a San Antonio lawyer representing the church, began building a defense based on religious freedom, suggesting Mark and Monique Rathbun are heretics who’ve been practicing Scientology outside the bounds of the church—and in violation of the church’s trademarks—and intoning that this “stalking” is constitutionally protected religious speech. With a little courtroom righteousness worthy of Matthew McConaughey, Strieber delivered one of the day’s great lines: “Your honor, I am not a Scientologist. But I am a disciple of the First Amendment.”
Judge Dib Waldrip, meanwhile, gave a promising first performance as the sleepy but straight-talking voice of Texas justice, bragging to the lawyers that, as they’re in Comal County, they’ll have to work their schedules around “the oldest continuously running fair in Texas.” Tony Ortega, the once and longtime Village Voice writer who’s covering the trial freelance, quipped Thursday that Waldrip looked like Ricky Gervais with Colonel Sanders’ facial hair. Waldrip, when Ortega’s name came up during the hearing, asked what a “Village Voice” is, and then looked completely baffled by the answer, like it had something to do with MTV.
Thursday’s hearing was a preliminary matter, as lawyers argue about extending the temporary restraining order Monique Rathbun has secured against the Church of Scientology and the people she says have been stalking her and her husband. All but one lawyer for the defense passed up the chance to cross-examine Rathbun yesterday, saying they’d rather hold their questions for the trial itself.
So Monique Rathbun spent more than two hours Thursday afternoon on the story of how she met and fell in love with Mark Rathbun—once a top official in the Church of Scientology, now one of the church’s most outspoken critics—and how their peaceful life on an impossibly idyllic Corpus Christi Bay became a nightmare. Beginning in late 2009, Mark and Monique Rathbun became the targets of sustained harassment by the Church of Scientology’s heretic-trackers known as “Squirrel Busters.”
This is the point at which one of world religion’s great curiosities became a local Texas story. The Rathbuns’ neighbors rallied to chase the buffoonish Squirrel Busters from cozy Ingleside on the Bay—but when the Rathbuns discovered hidden cameras trained on their home after the Squirrel Busters’ departure, they fled to a remote new home in Comal County.
Prompted by her lawyer Ray Jeffrey, Monique Rathbun choked up Thursday as she recalled finding surveillance cameras hidden in the trees behind their new home earlier this year, pointed at their house.
“It was just devastating,” she said. “It was just… this is never gonna stop.”
“How much more of this can you take?” Jeffrey asked her.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know the answer to that question.”
Strieber, the Church of Scientology’s attorney, got Monique Rathbun to concede that neither the Squirrel Busters nor any private investigators the Rathbuns encountered had physically harmed them or trespassed on their new home.
Because Mark and Monique Rathbun had both been “auditing” people at their home—a form of religious counseling particular to Scientology—outside the church’s purview, and had been using a piece of equipment known as an “E-meter” without the church’s approval, Strieber suggested any harassment Monique Rathbun alleged was just an attempt to protect the orthodoxy of the church. And its registered trademarks.
Though she hasn’t been a member of the Church of Scientology, Monique Rathbun said she’d dabbled in Scientology practices since marrying Mark.
“At any time, did you consider stopping auditing, [or] use of the Scientology materials … as a way of ending this religious debate between the church and your husband?” Strieber asked her.
“No, I did not,” she said. “I didn’t think that’s what this fight is about.”
Any trial in the case is a long ways off—even the decision on extending the restraining order is likely weeks away. Lawyers are back in court today to fight over an attempt to get Jeffrey, Rathbun’s lawyer, removed from the case. They’ll be back in New Braunfels again later this month or early next month—depending on the schedules of Scientology’s legal team and, of course, the longest-running county fair in Texas.
Monique Rathbun v. Church of Scientology Full Court Documents:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/786411-monique-rathbun-v-church-of-scientology-first.html
Excerpts:
Filed
13 September 4
Kathy Faulkner
District Clerk
Comal District
CAUSE NO. C-2013-1082B
MONIQUE RATHBUN IN THE DISTRICT COURT
v. 2071"' JUDICIAL DISTRICT
DAVID MISCAVIGE, RELIGIOUS
TECHNOLOGY CENTER, CHURCH
OF SCIENTOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL, STEVEN
GREGORY SLOAT, AND
MONTY DRAKE COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
FIRST AMENDED PETITION
TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
The Plaintiff, Monique Rathbun, brings this action against the Defendants, David
Miscavige, Religious Technology Center Church of Scientology International
Steven Gregory Sloat, Monty Drake, Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow, and Ed
Bryan, and for causes of action shows the following:
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN
1. The Plaintiff intends to conduct discovery under Level 3 of Rule 190 of
the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
PARTIES AND SERVICE OF PROCESS
2. Mrs. Rathbun is a resident of Comal County, Texas. David Miscavige has
appeared herein and is being served by serving his counsel of record, Lamont A.
Jefferson, Haynes Boone, LLP, 112 E. Pecan Street, Suite 1200, San Antonio, Texas
78205-1540. Religious Technology Center has appeared herein and is being served by
serving its counsel of record, Lamont A. Jefferson, Haynes Boone, LLP, 112 E. Pecan
Street, Suite 1200, San Antonio, Texas 78205-1540. Church of Scientology International
has appeared herein and is being served by serving its counsel of record, Les J. Strieber
Davis, Cedillo Mendoza, McCombs Plaza, Suite 500, 755 E. Mulberry Ave., San
Antonio, Texas 78212. Steven Gregory Sloat is an individual residing in Houston
(Bellaire), Texas. He may be served by serving him at .4907 Beech Street, Bellaire, Texas
77401. Monty Drake is an individual residing in Granbury, Hood County, Texas. He
may be served by serving him at 1620 Malibu Bay Ct., Granbury, Texas 76048.
3. Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow, is a California resident doing business
in Texas. He may be served with process and this pleading by serving the Secretary of
State of Texas at 1019 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78701, as its agent for service. A
copy of same may be mailed to Dave Lubow a/k/a David J. Labow at 26501 Torrey
Pines, Newhall, Santa Clarita, CA 91321-2235.
4. Ed Bryan is a California resident doing business in Texas. He may be
served with process and this pleading by serving the Secretary of State of Texas at 1019
Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78701, as its agent for service. A copy of same may be
mailed to Ed Bryan at 2808 N. Naomi Street, Burbank, CA 91504~2023.
SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION
5. This action is a suit for injunctive relief and damages in an amount within
the jurisdictional limits of this Court. The Plaintiff seeks monetary relief over $1,000,000.
PERSONAL JURISDICTION
6. Mr. Miscavige, RTC, CSI, Mr. Labow, and Mr. Bryan are subject to
personal jurisdiction in Texas. Texas courts have general jurisdiction over Mr.
Miscavige, RTC, CSI, Mr. Labow and Mr. Bryan because they have a substantial
connection with Texas due to their continuing and systematic contacts purposefully
directed toward Texas. Also, Texas courts have specific jurisdiction over these
Defendants because they have a substantial connection with Texas due to the fact that this
cause of action arises out of or relates to their contacts with Texas. Mr. Sloat and Mr.
Drake are citizens and residents of Texas, where they do business.
VENUE
7. Comal County is a county of proper venue, because it is a county in which
a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred and are still
occurring.
8. Monique Rathbun (formerly, Monique Carle) was 33 years old in 2005,
when she met and fell in love with her future husband, Mark Rathbun. Eventually, Mr.
and Mrs. Rathbun made their home in lngleside On The Bay, Texas, and they were wed
on July 3, 2010. Although this case involves Scientology, Mrs. Rathbun is not, nor has
she ever been, a member of the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology is a
notorious, multi-billion dollar cult.
9. Mrs. Rathbun learned at the outset of her romance with Mr. Rathbun that
he was a former member of the Church of Scientology. In fact, Mr. Rathbun had devoted
27 years of his life to the service of Scientology. He was the second highest ranking
official in Scientology's hierarchy. Mr. Rathbun worked directly with David Miscavige,
Scientology's supreme leader. Mr. Miscavige, who refers to himself as the "Pope of
Scientology," wields absolute control over all Scientology corporate operations,
including the operation made the basis of this suit.
10. By 2004, Mr. Rathbun realized that he could no longer abide Mr.
Miscavige's illegal and immoral misconduct, especially Miscavige's physical and mental
abuse of devoted Scientology clergy. Mr. Rathbun escaped from Scientology's secretive,
secure compound in the California desert, and made his way to South Texas, where he
lived in anonymity. Mr. Rathbun's disappearance from his life in Scientology was so
effective that he was rumored to be dead. In fact, it was reported in Wikipedia that he had
died of cancer. During those quiet years, Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun met, married, and began
their new life on the Texas coast.
11. Mr. Rathbun was living in relative seclusion in Texas. He had no Contact
with his family and friends, who remained in Scientology and who were prohibited by the
Church of Scientology from having any communication or connection with him. There is
a department within the Church of Scientology dedicated to full--scale attack against
anyone who questions or criticizes Mr. Miscavige's reign over the Scientology
corporations. That organization is called the Office of Special Affairs OSA
employs a cadre of lawyers, investigators, public relations personnel, and shady
operatives to destroy anyone identified as an attacker of Scientology. For several years,
Mr. Rathbun kept quiet and avoided the attention of OSA.
12. In 2009, Mr. Rathbun exercised his rights under the Texas and United
States Constitutions to speak out against Mr. Miscavige's criminal mistreatment of
Scientology clergy. The Plaintiff, Monique Rathbun, did not join her husband in speaking
out concerning Scientology issues, nor has she ever taken a public position regarding
Scientology. Her few public comments have related to the ongoing harassrnents against
her husband and her. Mrs. Rathbun was never a member of the Church of Scientology.
In no Way was she an "attacker" of Scientology. Her only involvement was her marriage
to a prominent former Scientologist.
13. Nevertheless, Mrs. Rathbun has been intentionally targeted by OSA
merely because of her relationship with Mr. Rathbun. Under Scientology's written
policies and procedures, it is "fair game" to threaten that which an enemy seeks to
protect. To Scientology, Mr. Rathbun is an enemy, and his beloved wife is "that which he
seeks to protect." Accordingly, OSA and its co--defendants have engaged in three years
of ruthlessly aggressive misconduct against Mrs. Rathbun. This abusive campaign
continued, unabated, as of the filing of this suit.
14. The Defendants have worked around the clock for three years to destroy
Mrs. Rathbun. She has been harassed, insulted, surveilled, photographed, videotaped,
defamed, and humiliated to such a degree as to shock the conscience of any decent, law-
abiding person. She has been subjected to numerous, aggressive attempts to intimidate
her. Each and all of the Defendants have participated enthusiastically in this abuse,
without regard to Mrs. Rathbun's basic rights as a human being. She has been targeted at
home, at work, and anywhere else that she happens to be.
15. As a direct result of the Defendants' relentless campaign, Mrs. Rathbun
and her husband were driven from their cherished home in Ingleside On The Bay. They
moved to a more secluded residence in Comal County in the hope of obtaining the
ordinary privacy and tranquility to which they are entitled. Unfortunately, their respite
was short-lived. The Defendants have resumed their activities against Mrs. Rathbun in
Comal County. Mrs. Rathbun believes that she has no choice but to bring this suit to end
the Defendants' assault upon her privacy, her tranquility and peace of mind, her right to
work, and her right to freely associate with friends and co--workers free from intrusion,
surveillance, harassment, and embarrassment.
ADDITIONAL JURISDICTIONAL FACTS
16. David Miscavige and RTC have complained that the Plaintiffs Original
Petition failed to plead specific facts to support personal jurisdiction over them in Texas.
Plaintiff disagrees, but in an abundance of caution, the following additional factual
allegations are provided.
17. This case arises from a planned, calculated, multiyear operation of
Scientology's Office of Special Affairs in Texas. To the profound suffering of
Mrs. Rathbun, she has been the innocent victim of OSA's primary function -- the
destruction of anyone deemed an enemy of David Miscavige and/or Scientology. David
Miscavige is the absolute, unquestioned authority in Scientology's corporate activities,
and he decides who is an enemy to be attacked.
18. Although it is ostensibly an office within the Church of Scientology
International, OSA reports directly to David Miscavige at RTC. Mr. Miscavige's personal
obsession is the "handling" of Scientology defectors, termed "Squirrels" or "Suppressive
Persons". The more significant the defecting Scientologist, the more obsessive is Mr.
Miscavige's response.
19. No defector from the Church of Scientology is more prominent than Mr.
Rathbun, which explains OSA's "scorched-earth" campaign against him, and its
willingness to attack even his innocent wife. Mr. Miscavige was particularly concerned
about Mr. Rathbun, because of their close, long-term working relationship.
20. In 2004, Mr. Rathbun escaped on a from Scientology's
secretive desert compound in California. The level of violence and human rights abuses
committed by, and at the direction of, Mr. Miscavige had risen dangerously. Mr. Rathbun
fled to Texas where he lived quietly, away from the attention of Mr. Miscavige and his
OSA thugs. It was during this peaceful interlude that the Rathbuns began their
relationship.
21. In 2009, Mr. Rathbun broke his silence and spoke to the national media
about Mr. Miscavige's shocking culture of violence in Scientology's desert compound. In
the eyes of Mr. Miscavige, Mr. Rathbun became his primary enemy. It was for such
enemies that Mr. Miscavige created the Office of Special Affairs.
22. Mr. Miscavige is the one and only person in the Church of Scientology
who may authorize a destructive OSA campaign, such as the one undertaken against the
Rathbuns. Thus, according to the routine, consistent, decades-long practice of the
Scientology organizations, Mr. Miscavige authorized OSA's campaign against the
Rathbuns. Consistent with Mr. Miscavige's longtime, established habit, he personally
monitored and micromanaged OSA's operations against the Rathbuns.
23. In 2009, Linda Hamel, the head of OSA, dispatched OSA's top agents to
Texas. Paul Marrick and Greg Arnold were pulled off of their decades~long surveillance
of former Scientology leader, Pat Broeker, and sent to Ingleside On The Bay, Texas to
plan a sophisticated surveillance operation against the Rathbuns. OSA already had a
Texas agent, Monty Drake, in place, but Marrick and Arnold were needed because of
their superior skills.
24. Mr. Miscavige, RTC, and OSA had employed Monty Drake in Texas
since the 1990's. Mr. Miscavige was well aware of Monty Drake, whose name Mr.
Miscavige thought was humorous, and Whose investigative reports were handed to Mr.
Miscavige for his personal attention.
25. Mr. Marrick and Mr. Arnold carried out their Texas assignment for OSA.
They regularly reported by telephone to Ms. Hamel during their work in Texas. They also
submitted a written report to Ms. Hamel. The report detailed their observations,
evaluation, and recommendations for the OSA operation against the Rathbuns in
Ingleside On The Bay. Over their long career with OSA and RTC, Ms. Hamel passed
information and reports from Marrick and Arnold directly to Mr. Miscavige, code named
"The Duke".
26. Later, after OSA's outrageous "Squirrel Busters" operation against the
Rathbuns became notorious in the media, Ms. Hamel, the head of OSA who reports
directly to Mr. Miscavige, replied that "we" sent the Squirrel Busters to Texas to "make
Marty implode."
27. On or about May 25, 2010, Warren McShane, President of RTC, made a
report to the Sheriff of Riverside County, California concerning a recent Scientology
Defector. Mr. McShane reported to the Sheriff, as follows:
"Mr. McShane . . . began to suspect that [the defector] would attempt to
meet up with Marty Rathbun, who was described to me as a former church
member, and now Church of Scientology antagonist. Mr. McShane told
me RTC had previously contracted with a private security firm in the State
of Texas to monitor Mr. Rathburfs activities. Mr. McShane contacted the
security firm and provided them with [the defector's] photo and
information and asked that he (McShane) be contacted in the event [the
defector was seen meeting with Mr. Rathbun. According to Mr. McShane,
[the defector] was spotted by the security detail on April 24, 2010 meeting
with Mr. Rathbun at a restaurant in the City of Ingleside, Texas."
"Mr. McShane summoned (4) church members/employees who know [the
defector] the best and sent them to Texas to attempt to contact him and
perhaps persuade him to return to the facility in Hemet,
Mr. Miscavige has often said that the only reason he keeps Mr. McShane in his position
at RTC is that Mr. McShane is "an unusually good liar." Presumably, however, Mr.
McShane had no reason to lie to the Riverside, California Sheriffs Office about RTC's
ongoing activities in Texas.
28. The Squirrel Busters operation against the Rathbuns is an important basis
of this lawsuit. Ed Bryan was sent by OSA from California to join the Squirrel Busters in
Texas.
On July 13, 2011, Mr. Bryan wrote the following conceming the Church's Texas
operation against the Rathbuns:
"This is in co-ordination with OSA Int. [Office of Special Affairs --
Church of Scientology International]. They are calling the shots and quite
frankly I don't think it is very effective. The reporters came to our house
the other day and we didn't tell them very much. Our main guy went back
to discuss with them a different strategy. The rat [Rathbun] is getting more
brazen and yesterday I actually had a 1 minute comm cycle [conversation]
with him while he was on a walk. The guy is nuttier than a fruitcake. He's
gone off the deep end. Taking him down will be no easy task. I just hope
he self destructs before he does more damage to our church. He has gotten
to some and I just can't think with how stupid they are to actually
believe what he is saying." Bracketed information added.
29. Another Squirrel Buster from California was Joanne Wheaten. While she
was in Texas, hounding the Rathbuns, she received regular written instructions from
OSA, micromanaging the Squirrel Busters' activities. No detail was too trivial to escape
the attention of Mr. Miscavige's agents, as exemplified by the following excerpts from an
email to her, dated September 3, 2011:
"You should brief the SQBS [Squirrel Busters] on the following:
couple of points need to be handled. The SQBS still look downstat
[derogatory term among Scientologists]. They went out without their shirts
tucked in and it looks unprofessional on camera. The badges also look
tacky. These points still need to be upgraded corrected.
"He [Rathbun] is much more enturbulated [Scientology term for a
disturbed state of mind] when people ignore him and go right on telling
him that he is not a Scientologist, that he is a suppressive person, that we
love and totally support COB [David Miscavige] and all he is doing for
Scientology, that Rathbun is a complete disgrace, is an insane
squirrel whose entire purpose is to destroy the tech. He is anti-Scientology
as all his actions show.
"That's the viewpoint they need to have. We love COB [David Miscavige]
and hate SP squirrels like you.
"People who are to deal with Rathbun need to read some references and
drill. They are not to engage in any more discussions with him."
Bracketed information added.
30. Bert Leahy, a non--scientologist videographer from Dallas, Texas, was
hired under false pretenses by the Squirrel Busters to join them in Ingleside On The Bay.
Mr. Leahy then learned the true nature of the job from an unsavory character operating
under the false name of "Dave Stater". In actuality, Mr. Stater was Dave Lubow, a
California private investigator, who has performed "dirty tricks" operations for Mr.
Miscavige, RTC, and OSA for more than 30 years. Mr. Lubow's unscrupulous nature is
prized by Mr. Miscavige. Mr. Lubow told Mr. Leahy in no uncertain terms:
"Our goal is to make Marty's life a living hell . . . with every means
possible of impeding his everyday living, and make it so miserable for him
and his neighbors that his neighbors will want him to move."
The virulence of the Squirrel Busters was also directed against Mrs. Rathbun.
Joanne Wheaton told Mr. Leahy that Mrs. Rathbun "made her blood boil" and
that she "couldn't stand the sight of her [Mrs. Rathbur1]."
31. Mr. Leahy soon sickened of his participation in the Squirrel
Busters' Texas operation against the Rathbuns. But, before he quit, he observed
that the Squirrel Busters seemed to have an unlimited budget, and its leaders
received instructions and made reports by cell phone to Los Angeles. OSA's
headquarters are located in a Los Angeles Scientology building, along with
offices of Mr. Miscavige and RTC.
32. On July 20, 2011, the attorney for Squirrel Busters Productions,
Richard W. Rogers, of Corpus Christi, Texas wrote to the County Attorney of
San Patricio County, where the Squirrel Busters' operation against the Rathbuns
was ongoing. The letter is unremarkable, except for the fact that it was cc'd to
Allan Cartwright, OSA's Director of Legal Affairs. Mr. Cartwright answers to Mr.
Miscavige at RTC.
33. The official spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, Karin
Pouw, has written:
further wish to point out that the Church has put out videos which show
Rathbun lying in his own words, based on his own statements. To that end
I fi1I'll'l6I' invite you to watch the video at this link showing Rathbun's
nature:
The video footage in question was the Squirrel Busters' video recording of the Rathbuns
in Texas. Previously, the Church denied any connection to the Squirrel Busters.
Furthermore, the referenced website is one of approximately 35 "hate sites" established
by the Church to attack Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun.
34. Texas private investigator, Monty Drake, whose name Mr. Miscavige
found to be so amusing, carried out many of the Defendants' operations against the
Rathbuns. Of significance, he entered into two 3-year leases of a house across the street
from the Rathbuns' home in Ingleside On The Bay, Texas. Mr. Drake installed in the
leased house an array of high--powered surveillance video and still cameras aimed at and
into the Rathbuns' home. The cameras were connected to a computer system that stored
and transmitted the Rathbuns' images to California to satisfy Mr. obsessive
interest.
35. None of the Defendants' tortious activities in Texas, which continued
until this Court's Temporary Restraining Order was issued, could have been performed
without authorization by David Miscavige, who is the head of RTC and the unquestioned
ruler of all Scientology organizations. No one else in any Scientology organization has
the authority to approve such an operation. Furthermore, any and all of these unlawful
activities in Texas could have been stopped instantly by a single word from Mr.
Miscavige. Mr. Miscavige approved and ratified these activities. Official and unofficial
Church spokespersons and publications have vilified and attacked the Rathbuns
throughout their ordeal. Church funds have financed the Rathbun campaign in Texas, and
Church personnel have staffed it.
36. Mr. Miscavige may have been careful to keep his body outside of Texas,
but he personally directed several OSA operations in Texas before the Rathbun operation.
Established principles of fair play and substantial justice dictate that he should be made to
answer these allegations concerning his deliberate, tortious activities against Texas
citizens in a Texas courtroom, before a Texas jury.
CAUSES OF ACTION
37. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. The Defendants'
misconduct, as described above, constitutes intentional infliction of emotional distress,
for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants acted intentionally or recklessly,
and Mrs. Rathbun has suffered, and is suffering, severe emotional distress. The
Defendants' misconduct is extreme and outrageous, and proximately caused Mrs.
Rathbun's emotional distress. No alternative cause of action would provide a remedy for
the severe emotional distress caused by the Defendants' misconduct.
38. Tortious Interference With Contract. The Defendants' misconduct, as
described above, constitutes tortious interference with contract, for which Mrs. Rathbun
hereby sues. Mrs. Rathbun has had a valid contract of employment with her employer.
The Defendants have willfully and intentionally interfered with the contract. The
Defendants' interference has proximately caused injury to Mrs. Rathbun, and she has
incurred actual damages or loss.
39. Invasion of Privacy - Intrusion on Seclusion. The Defendants'
misconduct, as described above, constitutes invasion of privacy by intrusion on seclusion,
for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants intentionally intruded on Mrs.
Rathbun's solitude, seclusion, or private affairs. Such intrusion would be highly offensive
to a reasonable person. Mrs. Rathbun suffered injury as a result of the Defendants'
intrusion.
40. Invasion of Privacy Public Disclosure of Private Facts. The
Defendants' misconduct, as described above, constitutes invasion of privacy by public
disclosure of private facts, for which Mrs. Rathbun hereby sues. The Defendants
publicized information about Mrs. Rathbun's private life, which would be highly
offensive to a reasonable person, and which is not of legitimate public concern. Mrs.
Rathbun has suffered injury as a result of the Defendants' disclosure.
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
41. Mrs. Rathbun is entitled to a Temporary Restraining Order, Temporary
Injunction, and Permanent Injunction prohibiting the Defendants from interfering with
her employment, from invading her privacy, and from inflicting emotional distress upon
her. There is substantial risk of imminent harm and irreparable injury to Mrs. Rathbun.
Her damages, by their nature cannot be measured by any certain pecuniary standard. She
seeks ex parte consideration of this request for Temporary Restraining Order to prevent
further irreparable injury and to preserve the status quo pending a hearing on her request
for Temporary Injunction and final trial.
DAMAGES
42. Actual Damages. As a direct result of the Defendants' unlawful conduct,
Mrs. Rathbun has suffered and will continue to suffer recoverable actual damages within
the jurisdictional limits of this Court, including but not limited to, mental anguish
damages, loss of earning capacity, damage to reputation, and financial loss.
43. Exemplary Damages. The Defendants' unlawful conduct was of such a
degree and character as to make them liable for exemplary damages within the
jurisdictional limits of this Court.
VICARIOUS LIABILITY
44. The Defendants' misconduct, as described above, makes them liable for
each other's actions and the actions of their employees and agents under theories of
assisting or encouraging, assisting and participating, concert of action, conspiracy,
agency, partnership, joint enterprise, piercing the corporate Veil, and respondeat superior.
AMENDMENT AND OINDER
45. Mrs. Rathbun expressly reserves the right to amend her pleadings and to
join additional parties, as needed.
REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE
46. The Plaintiff requests that the Defendants disclose, pursuant to Texas Rule of
Civil Procedure 194, the information or material described in Rule
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Plaintiff prays that upon trial
hereof, she be awarded judgment against the Defendants for injunctive relief, actual
damages, exemplary damages, court costs, pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest,
and such other and further relief to which she may be justly entitled at law or in equity.
Respectfully submitted,
JEFFREY . C.
By: /2
Ray effref
State Bar Number 10613700
A. Dannette Mitchell
COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
AFFIDAVIT OF MONIQUE RATHBUN
Before me, the undersigned notary, on this day personally appeared Monique Rathbun,
the affiant, a person whose identity is known to me. After I administered an oath, affiant
testified:
1. "My name is Monique Rathbun. I am over 18 years of age, of sound mind, and
capable of making this affidavit. The facts stated in this affidavit are within my personal
knowledge and are true and correct.
2. I am married to Mark Rathbun, a prominent former Scientologist. For several
years, we led a quiet, rewarding life together on the Texas coast before the Defendants started
their campaign of harassment and intimidation against us.
3. In 2009, my husband broke his silence about Scientology. He gave national media
interviews about physical and mental abuse he witnessed at Scientology's headquarters in
California. I have never been a Scientolo gist. I gave no interviews, nor did I speak out publicly
concerning these matters.
4. Within a week of my husband's first media interviews, we were both put under
surveillance by Scientology operatives. We have now been living under this constant
surveillance and harassment for four years.
5. On several occasions when my husband travelled out of town, Scientologists
appeared at our home after dark to interrogate me aggressively. These unwelcome visitors
refused to give their names. Although I tried to be strong, this was frightening to me as a woman
at home alone. When I would try to call the police, the Scientologists would flee.
6. Anonymous callers phoned our home and threatened us. Scientology operatives
openly followed me as I drove to and from work.
7. In 2Cl11, the Scientology operatives leased a five bedroom home less than 200
yards from our residence. This outpost was occupied by at least five Scientology operatives
whose full--time job was to make our lives a living hell, as one of them has publicly admitted.
They usually wore shirts identifying themselves as Scientologists.
8. We couldn't even peacefully take our evening walk with our little dog, Chiquita.
The Scientology operatives used electronic surveillance to alert them whenever we left our
home. Within minutes of beginning our walk, the Scientology agents would approach us in a
golf cart with up to six cameras trained on us as they hurled insults and rude questions relating to
Scientology.
9. If we left home by car, we were inevitably followed by Scientology operatives
and tailed to wherever we went. We were then publicly assaulted and harassed wherever we
went, including restaurants and the beach. The Scientology agents harassed us in this fashion
for 199 days straight. Our neighbors and local government tried to help us, but the harassment
continued.
10. From 2010, to the present, the Scientologists have targeted me specifically for
harassment. They have worked to drive a wedge between me and my husband, family, and co-
workers. Scientology investigators have visited my mother, my father, my former husband, my
friends, and my co-workers. The investigators have falsely claimed to all of these contacts that
my life is at risk as long as I remain with my husband. These malicious allegations are hateful
and distressing.
ll. Presumably because I am a woman, the Defendants seem obsessed with my
sexuality. They sent workplace, which was very embarrassing. With their
constant surveillance of me, they knew when I was away from the office, at which time they sent
flowers to one of my female co-workers with a "romantic" message purporting to be from me.
Of course, this was distressing to me.
12. Scientology websites have published bizarre and sometimes vile allegations
against me, including false claims that I am a sexual pervert. They have even alleged that I am
not even a woman; secret sex--change operation. So, I have even had
my womanhood questioned as part of this sick campaign to inflict maximum emotional distress
on me.
13. Near the end of 2012, we discovered that Scientology private investigator, Monty
Drake of Granbury Texas, had leased for three years a residence across the street from our home
in Ingleside On The Bay. Behind the residence's blinds, peaking through small cut-outs, was an
array of high-powered still and video cameras pointed at, and into, our home.
14. Although we truly loved our home and our neighborhood on the Texas coast, I
could no longer take the constant harassment and lack of privacy. Although it cost us the loss of
$35,000 in lease/purchase equity, we moved to find refuge from the Defendants' harassment.
After extensive searching, we found what we believed was an acceptable home with sufficient
seclusion in Cornal County, Texas.
l5. Unfortunately, despite our new horne's apparent privacy, some or all of the
Defendants continued to watch our comings and goings from a distance, and to follow us when
we drove from home. Since July of 2013, the Defendants' activities against us have intensified.
They have leased undeveloped property adjacent to our homestead and installed surveillance
cameras directed at our property. Defendant Sloat has made contact with us under a false identity
and has provided preposterous, false stories to explain the surveillance cameras and why he is
moving an RV onto this undeveloped property.
16. I am a private person by nature. The continuous and aggressive invasion
of privacy to which i have been subjected, and the related personal and abuse, has,
and continues to be, a cause of great distress to me. it has cost me my privacy, my peace of
mind, and I believe it is calculated to damage my relationship with my husband, and his
relationship with my family and friends so as to injure me. Because I have been subjected to
harassment that is habitual, sadistic and categorical, i also live in fear that the Defendants will
resume their efforts to discredit me with my co--worl-cers, employer, family and friends."
"Further affiant sayeth not."
Monique Rathbun
STATE) or TEXAS
COUNTY OF COMAL
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN T0 BEFORE ME, by the said Monique Rathbun, on this
the ll 3 day of August, 2013, to certify which witness my hand and seal of office.
V-l
i
CHRISTINE A. THOMPSON
Notary Public, State of Texas
'2 .3 My Commission Expires
"3 .
April 22, 2014
COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS
AFFIDAVIT OF MARK RATHBUN
"My name is Mark Rathbun. I am also known as Marty Rathbun. I am over the age of
eighteen (18) years, of sound mind, and otherwise capable of making this affidavit. I have
personal knowledge Of the facts and statements contained herein, and all are true and correct."
1. served with Mr. Miscavige in Scientology's Sea Organization for 27 years. From 1982
to 2004, I answered directly to Mr. Miscavige. As Inspector General of Religious Technology
Center I was Mr. Miscavige's second in command. Mr. Miscavige and I were the only
Scientologists ever awarded Scientology's "Medal of Honor" by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. In
the history of Scientology, no other Church executive worked with Mr. Miscavige more closely,
for a longer period of time, than I did.
2. "The complex network of Scientology organizations is run by a shadow organization
known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org. It is so named because it was formed originally by
Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in 1967 aboard a ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea. The
Sea Org is a paramilitary hierarchy. Each Sea Org member holds a naval rank, from Swamper
(initiate) to Commodore, the title held by L. Ron Hubbard during his life. Sea Org members vow
by contract to serve for a billion years. The Sea Org was organized from the beginning by
Hubbard to be amorphous and mobile so as to evade criminal or civil liabilities. The Sea Org
was Hubbard's ultimate answer to his own description of the philosophic bases for Scientology
organizations' legal structure:
'If anybody tried to attack a Scientology organization and pick it up and move it
out of the perimeter or go over the hills with it today -- this happened to us once
why, they would find themselves involved in the most confounded weird mass of
legal -- well, it is just like quicksand. Quicksand It's an interesting trick. Every
time they shoot at you on the right side of the horse, you 're on the left side of the
horse; and then they prove conclusively you 're on the left side of the horse, you
prove conclusively that you 're on the right side of the horse. They go mad afier a
while. This is what the basic legal structure is.
3. "Since the 1967 formation of the controlling, yet amorphous Sea Org, the corporate
structures of Scientology have come and gone, and changed and reformed, many times. The
only significant factor that has remained constant through Scientology's many corporate
transformations is that the highest ranking Sea Org member is in complete control.
4. "Until Hubbard's death in January of 1986, that controlling leader was Hubbard himself,
the Commodore of the Sea Org. Since Hubbard's death, that controlling leader has been David
Miscavige. Miscavige has held complete control of all Scientology organizations as the highest
ranking Sea Org officer. Since Hubbard's death, Miscavige has been the Sea Org's only Captain,
and no one holds a higher rank. Over the years, Miscavige has temporarily bestowed a number
of brevet (temporary) Captain ranks to other senior Sea Org members. He has done so, as he
explained to me, for the purpose of obscuring his own unquestioned control of all of Scientology
as its Sea Org Captain. For several years, I carried the temporary rank of brevet Captain, but
Miscavige retained absolute control as the only permanent Captain of the Sea Org.
5. "Until his death, Hubbard controlled all of Scientology. The Scientology organizations
shielded him from civil and criminal liabilities by maintaining the fiction that he was merely the
"Founder of Scientology." His position was described as an arm's length, passive, serni-retired
position uninvolved with the management of Scientology operations. All the while, the
thousands of Sea Org personnel answered to him as their all--powerful commander. Directions
from Sea Org command took precedence over all of the corporate charters, bylaws, and articles
of incorporation of the myriad Scientology corporations staffed by Sea Org management.
6. "In 1981, I was recruited by Mr. Miscavige from my position in the personal office of L.
Ron Hubbard to join a critical Sea Org mission. Mr. Hubbard had been driven into seclusion by
federal prosecutors and civil litigants who were making a determined effort to pierce the
Scientology corporate veil in order to indict and sue Mr. Hubbard as the effective head of all
Scientology operations.
7. "Mr. Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, and ten other high--level Sea Org members
were convicted in federal court for obstruction of justice. They were members of Scientology's
Guardians Office. The Guardians Office had carried out the largest domestic infiltration of the
United States Government in American history, and these co--conspirators went to federal prison.
Due to the Guardians Office scandal, Hubbard directed Miscavige to accomplish three major
aims:
(1) re-create an intelligence, PR and legal network to replace the disgraced Guardians
Office in a way that would protect Scientology's spying and harassment operations by using
buffer corporations and new levels of security;
(2) by any means necessary, end the multitude of
criminal and civil threats pending against Hubbard and Scientology; and
(3) create a new
corporate structure that would allow the Sea Org to operate as it always had, but with legal
buffers in place that would prevent future 'enemies' from getting to Hubbard or other top Sea
Org officers.
8. "We accomplished the creation of a new intelligence, PR and legal machine by
establishing the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). Under Hubbard's and Miscavige's close
supervision, I organized OSA to effectively continue to silence potential critics and defectors
without exposing Hubbard, Miscavige or the Scientology organizations to legal liability. For the
next five years, until Hubbard's death, we worked to extinguish his outstanding criminal and
civil liabilities. I was also involved in the corporate re-organization that was intended to buffer
Hubbard and Miscavige from liability.
9. year after Hubbard's death, Mr. Miscavige informed me that he needed a defensible
corporate position to enjoy the protections of the new corporate structure. To accomplish this
goal, Miscavige used his Sea Org rank to seize control of all Scientology corporations.
Miscavige and I accomplished this by carrying out a coup at the highest, controlling corporation
in the Scientology hierarchy, Religious Technology Center (RTC). Miscavige and I, with two
other high-ranking Sea Org members, dressed in fully decorated Sea Org naval officer uniforms,
forcibly expelled the officers and directors of RTC and coerced them to relinquish their corporate
positions to us. If asked, all the Sea Org members involved, would falsely swear that the changes
at RTC were done in the normal course of its corporate business pursuant to long-standing policy
that testifying against another Scientologist is a high crime.
10. became a Director and the President of RTC. For weeks Miscavige struggled with
creating a position for himself that would afford the full autocratic control befitting his Captain
rank while shielding him from corporate and legal responsibility for the consequences of his tight
control. Mr. Miscavige finally settled on the title 'Chairman of the Board, Religious Technology
Center.' While never holding a corporate officer's position, Miscavige could legally claim he
simply passively passed upon the proposals of the corporate and ecclesiastical officers of RTC in
the same manner as in any legitimate corporation. According to RTC's articles and bylaws, its
only authorized function is to police the 'proper use of the trademarks of Dianetics and
Scientology.'
11. "As the all-powerful head of the Sea Organization, David Miscavige operated in much
the same manner as Hubbard. Miscavige created for himself the public appearance of an arm's
length title for the outside world to see. Beneath the appearance, he exercised total control over
all Scientology organizations through his supreme rank as Captain of the Sea Org.
12. "In fact, from the day our forced corporate takeover began in March of 1987, Miscavige
ran the entire Scientology corporate network with no regard for corporate separateness or
controls. He managed with an obsessive, micro-managing style. For the next 17 years that I
worked as Miscavige's direct aide, he ran the Scientology network as as a naval captain
runs a military vessel. All the while we communicated to the world at large, including through
our own false declarations, that Miscavige's role was the same as that of any corporate board
chairman. We claimed that he operates through the RTC board of directors to oversee the
operational management of RTC's corporate and ecclesiastical officers. We also falsely denied
that Miscavige was in any way involved in the management of any Scientology corporation.
13. "Meanwhile, Miscavige set up a mechanism to control Church Of Scientology
International (CSI), Scientology's primary management corporation. Miscavige created an
Authorization, Verification and Correction (AVC) department in RTC. Miscavige required that
no strategy, program, project, or order of any kind could leave CS1 to any Scientology unit
anywhere without going through RTC's AVC department. AVC's original mandate was that
nothing could issue from CSI unless it was consistent with and designed to implement the
policies of Commodore L. Ron Hubbard. Soon, however, Miscavige changed the rules so that
nothing could issue from CS1 except orders or programs implementing Miscavige's own
commands.
14. "Over the next few years, the entire Scientology corporate and ecclesiastical (Sea Org)
organization came to equate as Miscavige became known, with "Commodore", as L.
Ron Hubbard was known. COB's orders could not be questioned or disobeyed. Through his
AVC department's control of every communication emanating from CS1, Miscavige exercised
complete control of CS1, Scientology's main operating entity. I witnessed Miscavige's control
enforced without question from anyone in RTC, CS1, or any other Scientology corporation for
the next 17 years.
15. "By the mid-1990's, Miscavige's every utterance was ruthlessly enforced throughout all
Scientology corporations. He regularly strode through Church of Scientology 1nternational's
California headquarters while barking verbal orders to anyone and everyone, from the janitors to
managers responsible for Scientology management across the world.
16. "Miscavige was always accompanied by an entourage of personal staff. A staff member
always carried a tape recorder to memorialize every word he spoke. Just before any audio tape
would run out, another recorder would be started and held by an assistant inches from his mouth
so as not to miss a single word when the first tape was replaced. Runners were on hand to rush
every completed audio tape to COB's secretarial unit. There, several typists were employed, 24
hours per day, typing every word from Miscavige's mouth, from the moment he awoke to the
moment he laid his head to rest at night. The secretarial unit culled almost every sentence from
the transcripts that contained a direction or order Miscavige issued during his daily tours through
the offices of Scientology corporations. Those excerpts were issued as written orders to the
people Miscavige had directed his comments or orders to during his tours. The orders were so
frequent and voluminous that massive rows of high--~density files were filled with binders of
Miscavige's orders to RTC, CS1, and other Scientology corporations. An elaborate 'time-
machine' system was employed to track compliance with Miscavige's orders. The orders were
tracked by computers, generating automatic nudges to the recipients to send evidence of
compliance. Escalating levels of punishment were devised and enforced for non--compliance
over time.
17. "The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is the legal, public relations, and intelligence
network of CS1. One or more network representatives are employed by every Scientology
organization across the world. Each of them is operated and managed by OSA International
(OSA INT) which is housed within CS1. Although OSA is formally answerable to CSI's
management, from OSA's inception in the early l980's until my departure in December of 2004,
the formal management structure was a sham. OSA was carefully micromanaged by David
Miscavige. He exercised his control through me, Inspector General of RTC, and Mike Rinder,
Commanding Officer of OSA International.
18. "Between 1982 and 2004go-between for Miscavige and OSA.
The manner in which we shielded Miscavige was elaborate. Much of Miscavige's control of
OSA was done "off the record." Every evening 1 would receive an intelligence briefing in
writing from OSA. The briefing was usually several pages summarizing reports from private
investigators and Scientologists serving as undercover spies watching and interacting with
Scientology critics. The written briefing, contrary to established corporate policy, had no routing
information on it. That is, the daily briefing had no indication who wrote the report or who it
was directed to. If a report ever got out of the Church, it could not, on its face, be used to
incriminate any of its authors or recipients.
19. "After I read the report each day, I was instructed by Miscavige to put it into a fresh
envelope with no routing information on it. I then personally carried the envelope into
Miscavige's office and set it on his desk. I was the only person in Scientology, aside from his
wife and secretary, ever authorized such access to his desk. When Mr. Miscavige read the
reports, he would enter my office with the report in hand. He would say 'beat it' to my secretary
or anyone else who happened to be in my office. Once any visitors had left, Mr. Miscavige
would discuss the contents of the report. Often, he would instruct me to order OSA to direct an
operative or private investigator to find out something or do something concerning the target of
infiltration or investigation. On other occasions, Mr. Miscavige would joke about what was
reported about a particular target, or rant about the target's activity. When Miscavige was done
discussing the daily OSA briefing with me, he would throw the report onto my desk. That was
my cue to pick it up and shred it after he left the office and before anyone was permitted to return
to my office.
20. "For 22 years, my schedule was to wake up at least one hour before David Miscavige's
scheduled wake up time so that I could collect all important information on any matter of
concern to him being handled by the OSA network. Every morning, I was required to brief
Miscavige verbally on any major developments on matters handled by the OSA network around
the world or matters concerning security. My briefing to him would begin with major problems
which he insisted he know about. My briefing included reports about the handling of media
stories, investigations, legal cases, security breaches, and potential security situations. That
briefing would last anywhere from a few minutes on a quiet day with no major developments, to
all day when something was afoot that riveted Miscavige's attention. Miscavige would issue
orders to OSA that I had to accurately note on paper.
21. "After the conference with Miscavige, there were a number of options available for
issuing his orders, depending on their scope and the level of security required. Most often, I
would call Mike Rinder, into my office and I would brief him verbally on Miscavige's directives.
Mr. Rinder would then return to his own office and type up the orders as written directives to
OSA. Those directives would be worded as if the orders were originated by him, with no
reference to me or RTC, and especially not to Mr. Miscavige. On many occasions, Mr.
Miscavige would require Mr. Rinder's presence during briefings in which he wanted more detail
than usual, or wanted to issue more detailed orders than usual. In such cases, it would be my
responsibility to follow up to verify that Mr. Rinder relayed Mr. Miscavige's orders to OSA as
Rinder's own orders.
22. "Mr. Rinder and I were ordered by Mr. Miscavige to keep secret virtually all of our
communications, and to specifically keep them secret from any other managers or staff with CS1
and RTC. All other CSI managers had little to no knowledge of any matters affecting
Scientology from the world outside of the Church. Except for OSA staff, Sea Org members have
little contact with the media or the world outside of their corporate duties.
23. "The highest priority OSA matters that I had to monitor and report on several times a day
to Mr. Miscavige were ones that involved his name. If a staff member lefi unannounced from
the Scientology corporate headquarters, and the person had any personal knowledge of Mr.
Miscavige by way of regular contact with him, I was required to personally direct a massive
dragnet utilizing Sea Org staff from RTC and CSI, and private investigators, to hunt down that
staff member. This occurred on average a couple of times per year. I was micromanaged on
such manhunts by Mr. Miscavige personally. I would make sure the person was contacted, and
put under control and sometimes order ongoing surveillance through OSA that could last up to
several years.
24. "If a journalist mentioned anything about interest in Mr. Miscavige, I directed and
monitored every conversation between a church representative and that journalist. I prepared the
staff member in advance and debriefed him afterward, all of which I reported directly to
Miscavige.
25. "If a lawsuit named or sought discovery that involved Miscavige, I oversaw every aspect
of that litigation until Miscavige was no longer subject to inquiry. During my tenure of more
than 20 years, Miscavige micromanaged every single action that was taken by any OSA staff
member, intelligence officer, private investigator or attomey related to that matter. No OSA
operation, whether or not it involved outside professionals, could be undertaken on any matter
potentially involving the name 'David Miscavige', without Miscavige's fully-informed and
direct authorization and direction. That rule included even the potential defection of a staff
member with only tangential information about Mr. Miscavige. OSA was founded on this
policy, and I instituted it and carried it out painstakingly for 22 years, from 1982 to 2004, when I
departed RTC.
26. "For more than 20 years, the Office of Special Affairs of the Church of
Scientology International answered to me. Under the close supervision of Mr. Miscavige, I
directed OSA's extensive, ongoing security, intelligence, "black ops", public relations, and
criminal and civil legal matters. Mr. Miscavige obsessively micromanaged OSA's handling of
perceived threats, including the threat of former Scientologists who complained of abuses
occurring in the Church.
27. have read the Declaration of David Miscavige in Support of Special Appearance in this
case. Mr. Miscavige's Declaration is false, for the factual reasons stated above and below:
A. Miscavige's false statement: "Prior to learning of this lawsuit, I had never heard
of nor did I have any knowledge of Defendants Mr. Sloat and Mr. Drake."
28. "Mr. Miscavige has known of the Church's employment of Monty Drake since the
l990's. Mr. Drake became Scientology's primary private investigator for Texas matters in the
early l990's. In 1996, Miscavige asked me Whether we had any private detectives in the State of
Texas. I told him that we retained Monty Drake, a private investigator in the Dallas area, who
we used to investigate a former RTC executive living in Dallas. Miscavige expressed amusement
at Mr. Drake's name, and questioned me whether "Monty Drake" was a real name or an
undercover name. I informed him that Monty Drake was a real name.
29. "David Miscavige ordered me on several occasions between 1996 and 2004, to have Mr.
Drake obtain both specific and general information on the family of Lisa McPherson. Lisa
McPherson was a young Scientologist who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology. I
relayed Mr. Miscavige's orders to Ben Shaw of Church of Scientology Flag Service
Organization and Linda Hamel of OSA. Both Ms. Hamel and Mr. Shaw sent me several reports
of Mr. Drake's investigations. I personally handed each of Mr. Drake's reports to Mr. Miscavige,
during the criminal and civil litigation concerning Ms. McPherson and her family.
30. "In the 1990's, I also personally delivered to Mr. Miscavige a number of Mr. Drake's
reports concerning the Church's multiyear investigation of Alan Walters, a former Scientologists
in Texas. Mr. Miscavige read these reports of the Texas investigation and used the information
to direct OSA's activities in Texas against Mr. Walters
B. Miscavige's false statements: have never availed myself of the privilege of
conducting activities Within the State of Texas." have not made any purposeful
contacts with the State of Texas seeking any benefit, advantage, or profit."
have not otherwise availed myself of the benefits and protection of Texas law."
31. "In addition to the facts stated above, the following facts demonstrate the falsity of Mr.
Miscavige's Declaration. Mr. Miscavige was intensely involved with the handling of the fallout
from the death of Lisa McPherson in Florida. He devised a strategy to bring legal action in
Texas, rather than Florida, against the executor of Ms. McPherson's estate. Mr. Miscavige said
that he did not want to litigate in the most obvious venue, Pinellas County, Florida, because he
believed it would be hostile to Scientology. He ordered me to execute his Texas litigation plan.
32. "As I carried out Mr. Miscavige's Texas strategy, he repeatedly stressed to me that no
Texas suit could be filed unless I found Texas legal counsel so connected to the local judiciary
as to assure victory to the Church.
33. "During the several weeks that I implemented Mr. Miscavige's orders in Texas, I
reported to him daily. After researching the issue of which Texas attorneys to retain, I
recommended the Dallas law firm of Jenkins Gilchrist. Mr. Miscavige ordered me to bring the
attorneys to the Church's facilities in the Tampa, Florida area for a two--day tour, briefing, and
indoctrination.
34. "Mr. Miscavige ordered me to gain the Texas attorneys' confidence so they would reveal
to me the extent of their connections in the U.S. District Court in the Tyler Division of the
Eastern District of Texas. After my discussions with them, the attorneys agreed to return to
Texas and thoroughly investigate to find the Tyler attorney with the strongest ties to the three
federal judges in U.S. District Court there.
35. reported to Mr. Miscavige the details of my conversations with the Jenkins Gilchrist
attorneys. Mr. Miscavige expressed mistrust of the attorneys' representations. He ordered me to
tell them that their continued retainer was conditioned on finding local counsel with such
connections that he could walk unannounced into the chambers of any of the three federal judges
to chat.
36. "The Jenkins and Gilchrist lawyers reported to me that they had found the most
connected lawyer in the Tyler Federal Courts and they provided me with many relevant details
about the attorney's connections. I reported these favorable details to Mr. Miscavige. He
expressed disgust, however, with my failure to find a Texas lawyer whose connections would
guarantee victory to the Church.
37. "Mr. Miscavige threw a tantrum and called me a loser". He lectured me that he
was the only Scientologist with the dedication to stick his neck out and guarantee victory. He
said he would have to be the one to personally handle this flap, as he had handled every other
major problem of CSI's Office of Special Affairs. After more ranting and raving at me, he
ordered me to hire the local counsel selected by Jenkins Gilchrist, with the warning that "if
they don't win, you are dead!"
38. "In December of 1995, David Miscavige ordered me to send Scientologist, Bennetta
Slaughter, a former Texan living in Florida, to the funeral of Lisa McPherson in Dallas, Texas.
His orders were for Ms. Slaughter to "handle" Lisa McPherson's grieving mother and convince
her not to investigate the circumstances of her daughter's death. Miscavige instructed that if Ms.
Slaughter had to resort to paying the mother to forget the loss of her daughter, we were willing to
'lose a couple hundred grand for this to go away.' Ms. Slaughter carried out the mission to
Dallas, while reporting to me. Ms. Slaughter reported that, in spite of her family connections,
her efforts to cozy up to Mrs. McPherson were rebuffed and she never established enough
communication to suggest paying her. I reported all the details to Mr. Miscavige. Mr.
Miscavige cursed about Ms. Slaughter and then issued a number of orders about
covering up the circumstances of Lisa McPherson's death.
39. "In early 1996, Mr. Miscavige ordered me to send an OSA staff member, Brian
Anderson, to approach Mrs. McPherson in Texas to accomplish the same purpose as the
Slaughter mission. Mr. Miscavige briefed me in detail on how Mr. Anderson was to act so that
he could gain Mrs. McPherson's trust without betraying any details of her daughter's death. I
carried out Mr. Miscavige's orders and sent Mr. Anderson to Dallas, Texas. In Dallas, Mr.
Anderson asked to meet with Mrs. McPherson, but she rebuffed him. I reported all the details to
Mr. Miscavige. In response, Mr. Miscavige cursed about the incompetence of Mr. Anderson and
me.
40. "It is important to understand that Mr. Miscavige's consistent custom and practice for
more than 20 years was to closely monitor and micromanage every OSA operation dealing with
Scientologists who dared to leave the Church. His involvement intensified if the person had been
at a high level in the Church hierarchy and had personal knowledge of Mr. Miscavige's
activities. As noted above, I was the highest level officer in the Church after Mr. Miscavige, and
I worked directly with him for 27 years.
41. "No Scientologist or groups of Scientologists, including OSA, have authority to
undertake any intelligence operation or destructive campaign against a high--ranking defector
without specific approval from David Miscavige. Furthermore, if he orders any such activities to
proceed or to cease, his orders are carried out to the letter without question. He has total and
absolute authority in all branches and all functions of the Scientology corporations."
Mark Rathbun
"Further affiant sayeth not."
STATE or TEXAS
COUNTY OF COMAL
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, by the said Mark Rathbun, on this the
3% day of September, 2013, to certify which witness my hand and seal of office.
CHRISTINE A. THOMPSON
Notary Public, State of Texas
My Commission Expires
April 22, 2014