As reported by Tony Ortega of the Underground Bunker, Valerie Haney has designated Scientologist Elisabeth Moss as one of the arbitrators in Scientology’s religious arbitration. A Los Angeles court ordered former Scientologist Valerie Haney into the abirritation despite her objections and lawsuit in which she argues Scientology cannot force former members into arbitration.

Incredibly, Scientology’s attorney William Forman argued in the California Appeals Court earlier this year that Scientology’s arbitration contract is of infinite duration and has perpetual force over former members:

Justice Moor: What happens if I went into Scientology in 1980 to check it out and then left after two weeks? If I had signed the contract and was hit by a truck owned by Scientology 20 years later, would I still be bound to the contract?

Attorney Forman: That would be Scientology’s position, yes.

Briefly, when a person joins Scientology they must sign four intake contracts as a condition of receiving services in the Church. As we have long stated, these sleazy contracts of adhesion are designed to strip Scientologists of all their legal and civil rights and surrender all power to the Church of Scientology. That Scientology claims to make people more powerful and self-determined while it, in fact, completely strips them of all power relative to the Church is one of the many lies of Scientology.

In the Religious Services Contract, all Scientologists agree to never sue Scientology and instead submit all disputes to Scientology’s “International Justice Chief” (IJC) for resolution. If this fails, the next step is binding arbitration and this is where former Scientologist Valerie Haney is at in her process.

In a Scientology’s arbitration, three arbitrators hear the matter and decide on it based upon Scientology’s scripture and, of course, their fears being declared Suppressive Persons and expelled from the Church if they rule against the Church.

All three arbitrators must also be Scientologists in good standing. This obvious and inherent bias of this aside, the contract allows Haney to designate one of the arbitrators. The Church selects another. Both parties then agree on a third arbitrator.

Valerie Haney is  allowed to designate one of three arbitrators per the contract; she has designated Elisabeth Moss who is a Scientologist in good standing. The contract excerpt at Section 6.e.II:

Valerie Haney filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology alleging several causes of action. However, the Church went into court and argued that she had violated the contract she signed as the document forbids Scientologists to file lawsuits or even be represented by legal counsel in all matters related to Scientology in perpetuity:

At issue is the fact that Haney is no longer a member of the Church. Therefore, she argues, she is no longer subject to Scientology’s rules.

LA Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge heard the matter at a hearing we attended. Burdge did not consider the matter at all and instead ordered Valerie Haney into arbitration on a perfunctory basis. Burdge lazily defaulted to Scientology’s arbitration clause.

Conversely, the California Appeals Court, a three judge panel, carefully deliberated on the matter of Scientology’s arbitration contract and ruled that Scientology’s arbitration contract cannot mean eternal submission to Scientology even after one resigns from the Church.

The California Appeals Court wrote of Scientology’s arbitration agreement:

The issue properly phrased is: after petitioners have left the faith, can Scientology still require that all of Scientology’s future conduct with respect to petitioners – including torts of whatever kind – be governed by Scientology law, with disputes to be resolved solely in Scientology tribunals by Scientology members? We conclude it cannot.

The California Appeals Court closed with a powerful summary (emphasis ours):

As we stated at the outset of this opinion, we hold that once petitioners terminated their affiliation with the Church, they were not bound to its dispute resolution procedures to resolve the claims at issue here, which are based on alleged tortious conduct occurring after their separation from the Church and do not implicate resolution of ecclesiastical issues.

Scientology argues that petitioners simply agreed to be bound by Scientology dispute resolution procedures no matter what. As Scientology puts it, “An ‘irrevocable’ agreement to ‘forever’ waive civil proceedings and submit to Scientology Ethics and Justice Codes in ‘any dispute’ with Churches of Scientology is a condition for participation in the religion.” It argues that this agreement should be enforced like any other agreement.

Enforcing this provision without regard to petitioners’ First Amendment rights would mean that if the Church or a Church member committed any intentional or negligent tort against a former member of the Church, that former member would be bound by Scientology dispute resolution procedures regardless of the fact that the member had left the Church years, even decades, before the tort. In effect, Scientology suggests that one of the prices of joining its religion (or obtaining a single religious service) is eternal submission to a religious forum – a sub silencio waiver of petitioners’ constitutional right to extricate themselves from the faith.  The Constitution forbids a price that high.

The Church of Scientology panicked over this ruling and immediately appealed to the US Supreme Court.

We note that Scientology’s  IJC Mike Ellis has no formal legal training and is not a lawyer. We do not know if he even finished high school. We mention high school as Scientology leader David Miscavige is a high school drop out. Miscavige left high school at 16 to join the Sea Org.

Formal education is sorely lacking in Scientology’s executive strata.

What IJC Mike Ellis is trained in is the “Ethics and Justice” system designed by L. Ron Hubbard.

This the same “Ethics and Justice” system that is used by Scientology to cover up rapes as happened in the case of Scientologist and alleged serial rapist Danny Masterson who has been both sued in civil court for the alleged rapes and bound over for criminal trial which is set for later this year.

The Church of Scientology wants to use its contracts to force two of Danny Masterson’s alleged three rape victims into its binding arbitration process. The two women were former Scientologists.

This is an outrage, and, the matter is stayed pending Masterson’s criminal trial.

What will Elisabeth Moss a/k/a June Osborne do?

Will she accept her designation and serve as a Scientology arbitrator or will she obey the rules of her particular version of Gilead where celebrities are shielded and exempted from the rules of real life? For example, after winning two Emmys for The Handmaid’s Tale, Elisabeth Moss gave a smiling F you to the cameras. Why such anger after taking home two major trophies? Is this a Scientology thing?

The legal filing by Valerie Haney’s attorney Robert W. Thompson: