In Los Angeles yesterday, a California state trial court judge refused to dismiss a suit brought against the Church of Scientology International and its Religion Technology Center by former church member Laura Ann DeCrescenzo. According to MyNews L.A., plaintiff, who began to volunteer for the Church at age 6 or 7 and later became a member of its elite Sea Org, alleges that she was forced to work long hours before she was a teen and was forced to have an abortion at age 17. The suit also sets out claims of false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices and wage-and-hour violations.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Scientology's leader David Miscavige are threatening to file suit against the publisher of a book coauthored by Miscavige's own father titled Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me. According to the Christian Examiner, the book is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom next week. A demand letter from Miscavige's lawyers says that the book contains false, malicious, misleading and highly defamatory statements.
