
By: Michael Hess
Re: Wollersheim v. Scientology [by Elvis Cole]

* Area : ALT.SOCIETY.CIVIL-LIBERTIES (ALT.SOCIETY.CIVIL-LIBERTIES)

From: anon-remailer@xs4all.nl (Name withheld by request)
Organization: Mail to Usenet Gateway

     In Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology, 212 Cal.App.3d 872,
260 Cal.Rptr. 331 (2d Dist. 1989), the Court of Appeal considered
the appeal by the Church of Scientology from the jury verdict and
trial court judgment in favor of Larry Wollersheim.  The Court
of Appeal opinion details the reprehensible actions the Church of
Scientology took against Mr. Wollersheim.  As delineated below,
these actions included the disclosure and wrongful use of private
information divulged during confidential auditing sessions, "fair
game," the imposition of onerous "freeloader debt," and even
physical restraint to coerce and intimidate Mr. Wollersheim.
     The Court of Appeal stated:

          "Construing the facts most favorably to the
     judgment, as we must, respondent Larry Wollersheim was
     an incipient manic-depressive for most of his life.
     Appellant Scientology and its leaders were aware of
     Wollersheim's susceptibility to this mental disorder:
     What appellant did to him during and after his years
     in Scientology aggravated Wollersheim's mental
     condition, driving him into deep depressive episodes
     and causing him severe mental anguish.  Furthermore,
     Scientology engaged in a practice of retribution and
     threatened retribution -- often called "fair game" --
     against members who left or otherwise posed a threat
     to the organization.  This practice coerced
     Wollersheim into continued participation in the other
     practices of Scientology which were harming him
     emotionally.
          Wollersheim first became acquainted with
     Scientology in early 1969 when he attended a lecture
     at the "Church of Scientology of San Francisco."
     During the next few months he completed some basic
     courses at the San Francisco institution.  He then
     returned to his home state of Wisconsin and did not
     resume his Scientology training for almost two years.
          When Wollersheim did start again it was at the
     appellant, Church of Scientology of California,
     headquartered in Los Angeles.  From 1972 through 1979
     Wollersheim underwent "auditing" at both the basic and
     advanced levels.  In 1973 he worked several months as
     a staff member at the Church of Scientology  Celebrity
     Center located in Los Angeles.  In 1974, despite his
     repeated objections, Wollersheim was persuaded to
     participate in auditing aboard a ship maintained by
     Scientology.  While on the ship, Wollersheim was
     forced to undergo a strenuous regime which began
     around 6 a.m. and continued until 1 a.m. the next
     morning.  Further, Wollersheim and others were forced
     to sleep nine deep in the ship's hold.  During his six
     weeks under these conditions, Wollersheim lost fifteen
     pounds.
          Wollersheim attempted to escape from the ship
     because he felt he "was dying and losing [his] mind."
     His escape was thwarted by Scientology members who
     seized Wollersheim and held him captive until he
     agreed to remain and continue with the auditing and
     other religious practices taking place on the vessel.
     One of the psychiatric witnesses testified
     Wollersheim's experience on the ship was one of five
     cataclysmic events underlying the diagnosis of his
     mental illness and its cause.
          At another stage Scientology auditors convinced
     him to "disconnect" from his wife and his parents and
     other family  members because they had expressed
     concerns about Scientology and Wollersheim's continued
     membership.  "Disconnect" meant he was no longer to
     have any contact with his family.
          There also was evidence of a practice called
     "freeloader debt." "Freeloader debt" was accumulated
     when a staff member received Church courses, training
     or auditing at a reduced rate.  If the member later
     chose to leave, he or she was presented with a bill
     for the difference between the full price normally
     charged to the public and the price originally charged
     to the member.  Appellant maintained a "freeloader
     debt" account for Wollersheim.
          During his years with Scientology Wollersheim
     also started and operated several businesses.  The
     most successful was the last, a service which took and
     printed photographic portraits.  Most of the employees
     and many of the customers of this business were
     Scientologists.
          By 1979, Wollersheim's mental condition worsened
     to the point he actively contemplated suicide.
     Wollersheim began experiencing personality changes and
     pain.  When the Church learned of Wollersheim's
     condition, Wollersheim was sent to the Flag Land Base
     for "repair."
          During auditing at Flag Land Base, Wollersheim's
     mental state deteriorated further.  He fled the base
     and wandered the streets.  A guardian later arranged
     to meet Wollersheim.  At that meeting, the guardian
     told Wollersheim he was prohibited from ever speaking
     of his problems with a priest, a doctor or a
     psychiatrist.
          Ultimately Wollersheim became so convinced
     auditing was causing him psychiatric problems he was
     willing to risk becoming a target of "freeloader debt"
     and "fair game." Evidence was introduced that, at
     least during the time relevant to Wollersheim's case,
     "fair game" was a practice of retribution Scientology
     threatened to inflict on "suppressives," which
     included people who left the organization or anyone
     who could pose a threat to the organization.  Once
     someone was identified as a "suppressive," all
     Scientologists were authorized to do anything to
     "neutralize" that individual -- economically,
     politically, and psychologically.
          After Wollersheim left the organization
     Scientology leaders initiated a "fair game" campaign
     which among other things was calculated to destroy
     Wollersheim's photography enterprise.  They instructed
     some Scientology members to leave Wollersheim's
     employ, told others not to place any new orders with
     him and to renege on bills they owed on previous
     purchases from the business.  This strategy shortly
     drove Wollersheim's photography business into
     bankruptcy.  His mental condition deteriorated further
     and he ended up under psychiatric care."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 878-80, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 335-36.
     Based on these facts, the Court of Appeal held:

          "There is substantial evidence to support the
     jury's finding [in favor of Wollersheim's claim for
     intentional infliction of emotional distress].  First,
     the Church's conduct was manifestly outrageous.  Using
     its position as his religious leader, the Church and
     its agents coerced Wollersheim into continuing
     "auditing" although his sanity was repeatedly
     threatened by this practice.  (See pp. 892-894, post.)
     Wollersheim was compelled to abandon his wife and his
     family through the policy of disconnect.  When his
     mental illness reached such a level he actively
     planned his suicide, he was forbidden to seek
     professional help.  Finally, when Wollersheim was able
     to leave the Church, it subjected him to financial
     ruin through its policy of "fair game."
          Any one of these acts exceeds the "bounds usually
     tolerated by a decent society," so as to constitute
     outrageous conduct.  In aggregate, there can be no
     question this conduct warrants liability unless it is
     privileged as constitutionally protected religious
     activity.  (See pp. 883-886, post.)
          Second, the Church's actions, if not wholly
     calculated to cause emotional distress, unquestionably
     constituted reckless disregard for the likelihood of
     causing emotional distress.  The policy of fair game,
     by its nature, was intended to punish the person who
     dared to leave the Church.  Here, the Church actively
     encouraged its members to destroy Wollersheim's
     business.
          Further, by physically restraining Wollersheim
     from leaving the Church's ship, and subjecting him to
     further auditing despite his protests, the Church
     ignored Wollersheim's emotional state and callously
     compelled him to continue in a practice known to cause
     him emotional distress.
          Third, Wollersheim suffered severe emotional
     distress.  Indeed, his distress was such that he
     actively considered suicide and suffered such
     psychiatric injury as to require prolonged
     professional therapy.  (See Fletcher v. Western
     National Life Ins. Co. (1970) 10 Cal.App.3d 376, 397
     [89 Cal.Rptr. 78, 47 A.L.R.3d 286] [severe emotional
     distress "may consist of any highly unpleasant mental
     reaction such as fright, grief, shame, humiliation,
     embarrassment, anger, chagrin, disappointment or
     worry"].)
          Finally, there is substantial evidence the
     Church's conduct proximately caused the severe
     emotional distress.  Wollersheim's bankruptcy and
     resulting mental distress was the direct result of the
     Church's declaration that he was fair game.
     Additionally, according to the psychiatric testimony
     auditing and disconnect substantially aggravated his
     mental illness and triggered several severe depressive
     episodes.
          In sum, there is ample evidence to support the
     jury's verdict on Wollersheim's claim for intentional
     infliction of emotional distress."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 881-82, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 336-37
(brackets added).
     Based on the evidence, the Court of Appeal further found
that:

     "Scientology, unlike most other religions or
     organizations claiming a religious purpose, uses
     various sanctions and the threat of sanctions to
     induce continued membership in the Church and
     observance of its practices.  These sanctions include
     "fair game," "freeloader debt" and even physical
     restraint.  There was nothing in the evidence
     presented at this trial suggesting new recruits and
     members undergoing lower-level "auditing" were subject
     to sanctions if they decided to leave.  Nor was there
     evidence these recruits or "lower level" auditors
     would be aware any program of sanctions even existed
     and thus might be intimidated by it.  But there was
     evidence others, like Wollersheim, who rose to higher
     levels of auditing and especially those, like
     Wollersheim, who became staff members -- the rough
     equivalent of becoming a neophyte priest or minister
     -- were aware of these sanctions and what awaited them
     if they chose to "defect." Thus, their continued
     participation in "auditing" and the other practices of
     Scientology was not necessarily voluntary.
          Wollersheim was familiar with the whole spectrum
     of sanctions and indeed was the target of some during
     and after his affiliation with Scientology.  He first
     learned of one of these forms of retribution, "fair
     game," in 1970.  He also knew that, despite the
     Church's public rejection of the fair game practice,
     it continued to use fair game against targeted
     ex-Scientologists throughout the 1970's.  Under
     Scientology's "fair game" policy, someone who
     threatened Scientology by leaving the church "may be
     deprived of property or injured by any means by a
     Scientologist . . . .  [The targeted defector] may be
     tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
          Wollersheim feared "fair game" would be practiced
     against him if he refused further auditing and left
     the Church of Scientology.  As described in the
     previous section, those fears proved to be accurate.
     Scientology leaders indeed became very upset by his
     defection and retaliated against his business.
          But "fair game" was not the only sanction which
     Scientology held over Wollersheim's head during his
     years as an "upper level" auditor and occasional staff
     member.  Scientology also used a tactic called
     "freeloader debt" as a means of coercing Wollersheim's
     continued participation in the church and obedience to
     its practices.  "Freeloader debt" was devised by
     Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as a means of
     punishing members who, inter alia, chose to leave the
     Church or refused to disconnect from a suppressive
     person.
          "Freeloader debt" was accumulated when a staff
     member received Church courses, training or auditing
     at a reduced rate.  The Church maintained separate
     records which listed the discounts allowed.  If the
     member later chose to leave, he or she was presented
     with a bill for the difference between the full price
     normally charged to the public and the price
     originally charged to the member.n2 A person who
     stayed in the Church for five years could easily
     accumulate a "freeloader debt" of between $ 10,000 and
     $ 50,000.  Wollersheim was familiar with the
     "freeloader debt" policy as well as the "fair game"
     policy.  He also knew the Church was recording the
     courses and auditing sessions he was receiving at the
     discounted rate.  The threat of facing that amount of
     debt represented a powerful economic sanction acting
     to coerce continued participation in auditing as the
     core religious practice of the Church of Scientology.

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 893-94 , 260 Cal.Rptr. 344-45
(footnote omitted).
     The Court of Appeal further explained:

          "There also was evidence Wollersheim accepted
     some of his auditing under threat of physical
     coercion.  In 1974, despite his repeated objections,
     Wollersheim was induced to participate in auditing
     aboard a ship Scientology maintained as part of its
     Rehabilitation Project Force.  The Church obtained
     Wollersheim's attendance by using a technique dubbed
     "bait and badger." As the name suggests, this tactic
     deployed any number of Church members against a
     recalcitrant member who was resisting a Church order.
     They would alternately promise the "bait" of some
     reward and "badger" him with verbal scare tactics. In
     the instant case, five Scientologists "baited and
     badgered" Wollersheim continuously for three weeks
     before he finally gave in and agreed to attend the
     Rehabilitation Project Force.
          But these verbal threats and psychological
     pressure tactics were only the beginning of
     Wollersheim's ordeal.  While on the ship, Wollersheim
     was forced to undergo a strenuous regime which began
     around 6 a.m. and continued until 1 a.m. the next
     morning.  The regime included mornings of menial and
     repetitive cleaning of the ship followed by an
     afternoon of study or coauditing. The evenings were
     spent working and attending meetings or conferences.
     Wollersheim and others were forced to sleep in the
     ship's hole.  A total of 30 people were stacked 9 high
     in this hole without proper ventilation.  During his
     six weeks under these conditions, Wollersheim lost
     fifteen pounds.
          Ultimately, Wollersheim felt he could bear the
     regime no longer.  He attempted to escape from the
     ship because as he testified later: "I was dying and
     losing my mind." But his escape effort was discovered.
     Several Scientology members seized Wollersheim and
     held him captive.  They released him only when he
     agreed to remain and continue with the auditing and
     other "religious practices" taking place on the
     vessel.
          One of the psychiatric witnesses testified that
     in her opinion Wollersheim's experience on the ship
     was one of five cataclysmic events underlying her
     diagnosis of his mental illness and its cause.  As the
     psychiatrist reported, following this incident,
     Wollersheim felt the Church "broke him." In any event,
     this episode demonstrated the Church was willing to
     physically coerce Wollersheim into continuing with his
     auditing.  Moreover they were willing to do so even
     when it was apparent this practice was causing him
     serious mental distress and he preferred to cease or
     at least suspend this particular religious practice.
     Not only was the particular series of auditing
     sessions on the ship conducted under threat of
     physical compulsion, but the demonstrated willingness
     to use physical coercion infected later auditing
     sessions.  The fact the Church was willing to use
     physical coercion on this occasion to compel
     Wollersheim's continued participation in auditing
     added yet another element to the coercive environment
     under which he took part in the auditing process.
          There was substantial evidence here from which
     the jury could have concluded Wollersheim was
     subjecting himself to auditing because of the coercive
     environment with which Scientology had surrounded him.
     To leave the Church or to cease auditing he had to run
     the risk he would become a target of "fair game," face
     an enormous burden of "freeloader debt," and even
     confront physical restraint.  A religious practice
     which takes place in the context of this level of
     coercion has less religious value than one the
     recipient engages in voluntarily.  Even more
     significantly, it poses a greater threat to society to
     have coerced religious practices inflicted on its
     citizens."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 894-95, 260 Cal.Rptr. 345-46.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal concluded:

          "Here Scientology used coercion -- "fair game,"
     "freeloader debt," and in this instance, at least,
     physical restraint, along with the threat one or more
     of these sanctions will be deployed -- to prevent its
     members from leaving the Church."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 896, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 346.
     The Court also found that the Church disclosed
confidential information divulged during auditing sessions
and used it against Mr. Wollersheim:

          "There is substantial evidence Wollersheim
     divulged private information during auditing sessions
     under an explicit or implicit promise the information
     would remain confidential.  Moreover, there is
     substantial evidence Scientology leaders and employees
     shared this confidential information and used it to
     plan and implement a "fair game" campaign against
     Wollersheim."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 899, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 349.
     After finding that the jury awarded $30 million in
compensatory and punitive damages was excessive, the Court of
Appeal concluded:

     "The judgment as to the cause of action for
     intentional infliction of emotional injury is modified
     to reduce the compensatory damages to $ 500,000 and
     the punitive damages to $ 2 million.  In all other
     respects the judgment is affirmed."

Wollersheim, 212 Cal.App.3d at 907-908, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 355.
     The Church of Scientology appealed this decision twice to
the United State Supreme Court, and twice to the California
Supreme Court.  The Church of Scientology lost all of those
appeals.  The decision is now final.  For anyone who doubts this,
the full citation and subsequent history of the case is:
Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology, 212 Cal.App.3d 872,
260 Cal.Rptr. 331 (2d Dist. 1989), review denied,
(Cal. Oct. 26, 1989), review denied, mot. granted, 495 U.S. 902,
110 S.Ct. 1920, 109 L.Ed.2d 284 (1990), cert. denied,
495 U.S. 910, 110 S.Ct. 1937, 109 L.Ed.2d 300 (1990), vacated,
remanded, 499 U.S. 914, 111 S.Ct. 1298, 113 L.Ed.2d 234 (1991),
on remand, 4 Cal.App.4th 1074, 6 Cal.Rptr.2d 532 (2d Dist. 1992),
reh'g denied, 6 Cal.Rptr.2d 532 (Cal.App. 2d Dist. 1992), review
granted, 10 Cal.Rptr.2d 182 (Cal. 1992), review dismissed, cause
remanded, (Cal. July 15, 1993), cert. denied, 114 S.Ct. 1216,
127 L.Ed.2d 562 (1994).

-- Elvis Cole

