From: referen@neont.com (Diane Richardson) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: Lavenda Van Schaick Declaration Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 00:34:39 GMT Organization: Zippo Lines: 326 Message-ID: <4o0cuk$jbp@clark.zippo.com> Reply-To: referen@neont.com NNTP-Posting-Host: s198.neont.com X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.0.82
Lavenda Van Schaick swore out an affidavit relating harassment she had received from the "Church" of Scientology[tm] while she was suing them for, among other things, intention inflictional of emotional distress. The full text of the declaration as it appears in FACTNet is appended below.Interestingly, FACTNet states that the date of this document is illegible and it does not include the date on which it was sworn out to a notary public. Nevertheless, it is quite simple to estimate a date from the contents of the affidavit itself. It appears to have been written in the first half of 1982 -- before May of 1982, to be specific. (Note from CK: this was confirmed by David Mayo in a subsequent posting.)
Lavenda Van Schaick mentions, in paragraph 7, that a Gary Klinger of the Guardian's Office was sent to her home to offer $8,000 for "Church" documents which the "Church" believed Lavenda had in her possession. (Note from CK: David Mayo in a subsequent posting stated that this person was named Gary Klingler.)
Lavenda Van Schaick makes no mention whatever of the rape of her sister Lisa, or the retrieval of documents from Lisa Van Schaick's apartment.
Steven Fishman claims that the rape of Lisa Van Schaick occurred on 10 Apr 1981. If this event actually occurred, why was it not mentioned in a declaration Lavenda Van Schaick swore out nearly one year later? This document was intended to detail the abuse she had received from the "Church" of Scientology[tm].
1. I have personal knowledge of the facts sworn to herein and if called as a witness to testify thereto could do so of my own personal knowledge.
2. I was a member of the Church of Scientology, Mission of Meadow, Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Org of the State of Nevada and was an employee of said Church for approximately nine (9) years. I left the Church on May 12, 1979.
3. As a result of such employment I was responsible for about four (4) years from 10/71 to 12/73 and 1/76 to 1/78, for the Hubbard Communication Office, first at the Las Vegas Org and later at the Mission of Meadows in Las Vegas. I know from experience that this Office handles communications between Orgs and its immediate headquarters in Los Angeles and the headquarters in Clearwater, Florida.
4. In my capacity as the Hubbard Communication Area Secretary, I had frequent contacts with the Guardian's Office personnel who included: Matty Reese, Chuck Reese, Susan Reed, Jack Gay and Bruce Hamilton. The Guardian's Office is the police and enforcement arm of the Church and its headquarters is now in Clearwater, Florida. As the result of such employment I had access to more than forty different files on members who were subjected to the "Fair Game" Doctrine and who were designated "enemies" by the Guardian's Office. An "enemy" or "SP" (Suppressive Person) as defined by the Church in its policy letter of October 18, 1967 is one who disagrees with Scientology policies and such a person may be "tricked", "lied to", "sued", or "destroyed". As the Hubbard Communication Area Secretary, I personally saw instructions from the Guardian's Office in Clearwater, Florida and from Los Angeles to put this order into effect while I was working at the Las Vegas Organization.
5. Pursuant to these orders, I personally observed "PC" folders being sent to the Guardian's Office in Clearwater, Florida. "PC" folders contain information that is revealed by Church members during a process called auditing. Auditing is a procedure similar to confession wherein a Church member will reveal to an "Auditor" the intimacies and secrets of a person's life. The Auditor will thereafter record the information and place it in the "PC" folders. The Church member is regularly promised that the information disclosed in auditing will never be revealed by the Auditor. The Church member pays $625 for 12 1/2 hours of auditing and is promised a refund if he is dissatisfied.
6. The purpose of sending the PC folders to the Guardian's Office where a person had been designated SP or Fair Game was to use the contents of the folders to attack, threaten, blackmail and control the person and thereby prevent the person from seeking to collect refunds of moneys paid to the Church or to prevent the person from exposing the Church activities. The Church regularly and as part of its policy uses the material in these folders to blackmail and control its members in this way. I personally observed this done on numerous occasions contrary to the promises made to Church members. In one case, the Church declared a person named David Sandweiss an SP and threatened to expose auditing information revealed to his auditor by him if he sued for a refund or sought in any way to expose the Church problems. He thereafter committed suicide.
7. In my own case, after I left Scientology, and informed the Church that I intended to sue it for defrauding me of approximately $13,000, the Guardian's Office in Clearwater, Florida, routed the contents of my "PC" folder to the Church in Boston which wrote a letter to my attorney, Michael J. Flynn and without my permission, disclosed the contents of my "PC" folder. The contents of this folder contained in part material that I had disclosed during auditing and it also contains falsehoods inserted by the Church. I did not give the Church permission to disclose this information and it was sent to Attorney Flynn for purposes of depriving me of my legal right to sue the Church. Thereafter, the Guardian's Office sent an individual named Gary Klinger to my home. At that time I took from him a document which I now have in my possession wherein it is stated that he is to threaten me with extortion and offer me $8,000 in exchange for documents of the Church, which the Church believes I now have in my possession. Based on my experience and knowledge of the Church, I believe that these orders came from Clearwater, Florida.
8. I know from my experience that it is Church policy to seek immediately, information on the financial resources of all new recruits and to obtain control over these resources by false representations made to the recruits. When the recruit thereafter questions representations made to him, it is Church policy to threaten the person with being declared an SP which would result in the forwarding of his "PC" folder to the Guardian's Office in Los Angeles and Clearwater, Florida, to be used for the purposes previously described.
9. I also know from my experience in Scientology, that the Guardian's Office of each local organization is controlled by and reports to the U.S. Guardian's Office in Los Angeles. In turn, the U.S. Guardian's Office in Los Angeles reports directly to Clearwater, Florida. I also know that there is a telex connection between the U.S. Guardian's Office in Los Angeles and the Clearwater Headquarters of Scientology. I myself used the telex system in Las Vegas and sent and received messages which were all in code to Los Angeles and to Clearwater, Florida. The Guardian's Office issued a press release and wrote letters to the media containing information from my PC files. (See Exhibit 1 attached hereto.)
10. When I joined the Church of Scientology in 1971 and throughout the period I was involved in the organization up to May, 1979, I read numerous publications containing numerous representations issued by the Church of Scientology of California which I relied upon, paid money for, and which were the reason I worked for the organization and paid money to it. These representations are set forth in my Third Amended Complaint in condensed form, in Paragraphs 9 and 12, and some of the publications which I read and relied upon are quoted in part in Paragraph 7 of the Third Amended Complaint. I specifically relied upon all of the representations in Paragraph 9 of the Third Amended Complaint about the academic credentials and background of L. Ron Hubbard as a graduate of George Washington University, Princeton University and a nuclear physicist. I specifically relied upon his naval background, that he was a 4 year, wounded, combat officer, who healed and cured his war wounds with Scientology, Dianetics and Auditing. I specifically relied upon the fact that the Church of Scientology was a scientific organization, that its publications such as set forth in Paragraph 7 said, it was an exact science, such as chemistry, biology, etc., which science was developed by a scientist and nuclear physicist, L. Ron Hubbard. I was specifically told that Scientology used the term "Church" and "Religion" only for "tax purposes" and "for the Government"; and throughout the period 1971-1979, everyone who was solicited by the "Church" in Las Vegas that I knew was told the same thing, namely that Scientology was only a "religion" for tax purposes, but it was not based on faith but on science as exact as physics. It was "Church" policy to tell new recruits called "raw meat" that a Catholic, Jew, Protestant, etc. could join the "Church" of Scientology because it was a "science", not a "religion". In fact, there is a specific, written "Church" policy which states that the "religious nature" of Scientology, "is entirely a matter for accountants and solicitors". It was common knowledge and "Church" policy at the Las Vegas Org, at the Church of Scientology of California, "Flag" headquarters in Clearwater, Florida and wherever the Church operates, that the "religious thing", which was also referred to as the "Minister's Mock Up" and was a cover to protect the "Church" from the government. I was also told that the "religious thing" only meant that Scientology obeyed the law and worked to help mankind, but no belief was necessary.
11. The representations made to me which are set forth in Paragraphs 9 and 12 of my Third Amended Complaint were made and I relied upon them in a wholly secular nonreligious context. I would never have paid money or joined the Church if I was told it was a "religion". Later, after being in the "Church" for many years it was common knowledge among the staff hierarchy and it was always "Church" policy coming down from our superiors that the primary objective was to tell people anything to get them into the "Org" and "get their money".
12. The position asserted by the Church of Scientology in Court that it is a religion and that its members, including me, joined and paid money to it on the representation that the "scientific basis of auditing" etc. was really a matter of religion or faith is an utter falsehood. There was no religious context of any nature in the making of any of the 'representations, promises and "guarantees" made to me.
13. In the Clearwater hearings, I answered a question asked of me about whether the Church of Scientology held itself out to be a religion in the affirmative, which only meant in that context that the Church holds itself out to the government to be a religion for tax purposes. This is the policy of the Church. There is no religious context to any promises or representations made during the solicitation process or while a member.
14. For example, the excerpted portions of various Scientology publications set forth in Paragraph 7 of my Complaint are merely a small number of examples of the type of representations made in Scientology publications to solicit people to buy them and take courses. Those representations and thousands of others are made on one uniform premise: "scientology is an exact science on the order of the physical sciences developed by a Scientist, L. Ron Hubbard."
15. When I paid thousands of dollars to the "Church", contributed 5 years of work, I did so on the continuing representations that we were building a scientific organization, that I would be paid, that I would work directly with Hubbard, that my medical, dental, and living expenses would be provided, that my career and educational opportunities would be expanded. This is what everyone is told. I did not pay $13,000 for courses on the representation that Scientology was a religious faith to which if I should make a contribution, I would be saved and would live "eternal life". This is the impression the lawyers are trying to create in the Courts. That is an outright fabrication. I paid money and other people paid money because we were "guaranteed" we would get specific, earthly benefits, like a higher I.Q. That is the only context in which Scientology sells its courses and solicits people on the street. No one would have paid anything if we told them they were buying "religion". The "religious" position now asserted before the Court, as Hubbard says "is entirely a matter for accountants and solicitors". We operated a business to make money, and sold specific books, courses and material for specific prices based on specific representations that Scientology would "scientifically guarantee" specific benefits, such as cures from obesity, colds, headache, cancer, etc. Throughout 1979, when I discovered Hubbard was a fraud, I realized how much I had been defrauded.
16. I was required to sign many forms at the time I joined the "Church" and in later years. Most of the time I did not know what I was signing and the common "line" was that the forms were used to protect the "Church" from the Government. I was told that and I told other people the same thing. From the time I joined Scientology until the time I left, everyone I knew and dealt with was continually told and believed that the "Government" was our "enemy" to which we should always apply the Fair Game Law. To this day, I do not know what forms I signed, what their contents were, etc., but I do know that the Church applied the Fair Game Law to all of its "enemies" which includes using information and documents procured from Church members by any means possible, fraudulent or otherwise.
17. Upon information and belief I have been brutally and viciously harassed for almost 3 years pursuant to the Fair Game Doctrine by the Church of Scientology. Church agents contacted my place of employment as a result of which I lost my job. Church agents have called my friends and neighbors accusing me of child beating, promiscuity, drug usage. I have been followed, threatened, harassed, sued twice (both dismissed), had my auditing information disclosed to the media. My lawyers have had documents stolen from them about my case. My child has been followed, kept under surveillance, called by telephone, contacted in person. Church agents have tried to influence my ex-husband to take my child away. "Operations" were implemented to "separate" me from my lawyer, my husband and my child. As a result of all of the above, I live in perpetual fear and I am presently in a condition of almost complete mental and emotional collapse. I do not presently feel that I can survive beyond September 1982 knowing that the Church will "attack" me ever more aggressively as the law suit continues. Church "policy" is very specific about "attacking" "enemies" and "traitors" of which I am one, and elaborate "operations" have to be implemented against me pursuant to "policy". These policies have never changed.
18. As the HCO Area Secretary in Las Vegas, I had personal knowledge that the Church of Scientology of California controlled and dominated every phase of the Church operation in Nevada including finances, solicitation policies, publications, prices, governing policies, criminal activities, etc. Control by Church of Scientology of California was exercised by Flag agents, the Guardian's Office, and the Hubbard Communications Office. All members of all Boards of Directors were required to resign in advance of their appointment and the resignations were held by the Church of Scientology of California.
19. I did not discover the fact that Hubbard's academic credentials, naval background, professional qualifications as a nuclear physicist, research history, and case studies were all false, until 1979-1981. I did not discover the fact that there was, therefore, no scientific validation of Hubbard's claims and representations, and no scientific basis for making such representations until 1979-1981. I did not receive the benefits promised to me such as wages, health care, room and board or courses as represented between 1971 and 1979, but it was continually represented to me that those benefits were forthcoming right up to 1979, and in the last several years, 1976-1979, my mind was firmly indoctrinated with the fact that Scientology would provide all of the promised items. It was not until 1979-1981 that I learned that the financial control mechanisms established by Hubbard were such that the representations made to me between 1971-1979 were fraudulent when made, because Hubbard took all of the money and left each Org with only enough to continue in the manner it did for 7 years.
20. The books that I was sold did not comply with the Judgment of the Court in the Article or Device case and I specifically never saw any publication which contained the "Warning" required by that case in 11 point leaded type on the title page on the cover page. I do recall the organization placing some "stickers" in some of the books about the religious nature of Scientology. However, these stickers were never placed in the books sold to me. The practice of putting the stickers in some of the books was not done until 1977-78, and I was told that it had something to do with the government and taxes. I have since learned from my attorney in the last several years about the required Federal Judgment. If I had known that a Federal Court in 1971 had said that Scientology representations in its publications were false, misleading, etc. and that Hubbard's credentials were all falsified, I would not have relied on the representations made to me.
21. If I had known that the Church of Scientology throughout the period 1968-79 was actively engaged in elaborate programs to break into, burglarize, and steal from state and federal agencies, defame and smear people with elaborate espionage programs to destroy anyone who stood in Hubbard's path, I would not have worked for the organization or given them money.
Signed under the pains and penalties of perjury
[date unreadable]
La Venda Van Schaick