Scientologists settle 4 lawsuits out of court Clearwater Sun
- Monday, August 18, 1986
From Sun reports
TAMPA — The Church of Scientology has reached out-of-court settlements in four multimillion-dollar lawsuits but U.S. District Judge
Elizabeth A. Kovachevich has sealed the records in all cases.
The settlements were reached in cases involving former Clearwater
Mayor Gabe Cazares and his wife Maggie; Tanja C. Burden of Las Vegas; former Scientologists Nancy and John McLean of Ontario, Canada; and
former Scientologist Margery Wake- field, whose address was unavailable.
Tampa attorney Walt Logan, who represented the plaintiffs in all four
cases, said the files were sealed "over our objections."
The Cazareses sued the church for $
1.5 million, alleging that the
Scientologists invaded their privacy and maliciously prosecuted them
with a frivolous lawsuit.
The Scientologists sued Cazares, who was mayor when the church set up
an international headquarters in Clearwater in 1975, for slander after
he opposed the sect's presence in the city. That suit was dismissed in
U.S. District Court as frivolous.
"We can't talk about the terms of the settlement," said Cazares, a candidate for Congress. "But I make no secret about the fact that Maggie and
I are not unhappy about the settlement. In fact, we're smiling."
Ms. Burden's lawsuit, filed in 1980, sought $
45 million from the church.
She charged that the founder, the late L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue
and the church's Clearwater headquarters, enslaved her for more than
four years.
Ms. Burden joined the church in 1973, when she was 13. Her lawsuit
said the church promised to free her of mental and emotional problems
and enhance her intelligence.
A federal jury, in a non-binding trial in March, recommended she receive
a $ 325'000 award.
"Ms. Burden is satisfied with the settlement. I wish I could tell you
more," said Michael Tabb, a Boston attorney who represented Ms. Burden
with Logan.
The McLeans sued the church in 1981 for $
6 million for invasion of
privacy and malicious prosecution. A federal jury in Tampa recommended a
$ 775'000 award in a non-binding trial in March.
Ms. Wakefield contended that the church fraudulently promised to cure
her mental illness and instead mentally abused her. The amount of
damages she requested was not available.
Paul Johnson, an attorney for the church, said in a prepared statement
that the lawsuits "have been amicably settled."
The controversial sect, which claims 6 million members worldwide, contends that its teachings, based on works by science-fiction writer Hubbard, allow members to achieve inner peace and understanding.
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