Daniel Montalvo entered the world of Scientology at age five, when his parents joined the Sea Org. Basically, he was given over to the cult by his folks, doomed to a childhood and teenaged years of servitude and privation.
As a minor, he was not legally capable of signing a contract. He was working 40 hour weeks, attending school once a week. He put up with it until recently. Now he has left Scientology and is seeking compensation for all his years of involuntary labor.
This case just might be the one that breaks the dam wide open, allowing other victims of Scientology to follow suit and file one.
Since the internet has made communication easier and faster, the Scientology organization finds itself the target of a lot of bad press, much of it of their own making.
Over the course of years, many people have tested the waters with Scientology in court. In one case, Lawrence Wollersheim sued them for "inflicting emotional distress," among other charges. In 1986, the court awarded him $5 million, and $25 million in punitive damages. On appeal, this was reduced to $2.5 million.
Cases which were won included the Bonnie Woods libel case, in which the cult was ordered to publicly apologize to Ms. Woods, an outspoken critic dedicated to helping escaping Scientologists to freedom. Scientology also had to pay her several hundred thousand pounds.
In 2009, Marc and Claire Headley sued Scientology, alleging that they were underpaid for their work for the organization. Claire Headley also charged that she was coerced into having two abortions in order to keep her place in Scientology's work force in Riverside County. Their cases were dismissed by the court due to the "religious" nature of some of their work. They are both appealing the decision.
It is one thing to argue that adults are free to join an abusive organization. It is quite another when the plaintiff was a minor at the time of complaint.
Recently, a young man named Daniel Montalvo publicly left Scientology. His parents joined when he was only five years old, and from then on, his life was one of parental neglect and work. When he was sixteen, he lost part of his right index finger in a machine used to produce books. They took him to an emergency room with a warning not to mention Scientology.
Daniel just turned twenty yesterday. He spent his entire childhood in Scientology. And now, it's payback time!
I. NATURE OF THE CASE
1. This case arises from the upbringing of Plaintiff Daniel Montalvo, whose parents effectively abandoned him, whose caretakers exploited and manipulated him, and whose school failed to adequately educate him in subjects either religious or secular. Intentionally deprived of the basic life skills needed to permit him to become a functioning adult member of society, Daniel now comes before this Court a nineteen year old man with an eighth grade education, without assets, without a resume despite having labored for hundreds of hours per week over the past five years, and living in Los Angeles only as a result of the deceit of those who pretended to assist him. Every adult in Daniel's childhood failed him, and society's safeguards against such misconduct overlooked him (or were concealed from him). This Complaint seeks to recover for these great wrongs.
According to his complaint, he worked 40 hours a week, and was permitted to attend school once a week. He had no work permits as required by law, and was forced to work late, punished by physical exercise, and forced to work under dangerous conditions.
This young man knew no other world but the insular, abusive world of the Sea Organization. For him to leave after 15 years is a great triumph of courage and determination. When he left, he took a hard drive loaded with his music. Since returned, Scientology spokespeople claim it was worth over $10,000.
The Scientology slander machine is in full swing. Rather than address the issues raised, the defenders of the cult are hard at work in comments sections where this case is discussed. They are calling him a thief, claiming he benefited somehow by being raised by Scientologists, and maligning his character.
They're also maligning the news organizations reporting on the story. They're doing everything but reading the article they're commenting on. This is a Scientology "tell." They often test out their arguments in this fashion, and it reflects in court.
It is probable that Scientology lawyers will attempt to destroy Daniel's credibility by focusing on the hard drive "theft," and may bring in lots of "character witnesses" from the Sea Org to destroy his character.
But when that smokescreen clears, the facts will remain, that Daniel was a minor who was denied adequate schooling, was working in dangerous environments, and had no choice in the matter.
This has the potential to be the case that breaks the child labor issue wide open. Following that, it's likely more attention will be paid to allegations of human trafficking and slave labor.
According to a recent article in the New Yorker magazine, the FBI is investigating allegations of human trafficking. Foreign workers are eager to work in the United States, so an offer to work at the Scientology centers in California and Florida are quickly accepted. When they get here, their documents are taken "for safe keeping," and they are put to work in the rigorously disciplined Sea Org. They are alone, with no support, often speaking little English. They are taught that the world outside Scientology is dangerous, making it unlikely that they would seek out help.
Call around to various Scientology offices, and chances are the person answering the phone is not a native English speaker. There is an incredible number of foreign workers, brought in to keep the whole Scientology machine rolling along for $50 a week. Or less, if they are being punished for some infraction.
Without this slave labor, Scientology cannot exist. If they were forced to pay minimum wage to their workers, it would take a big bite out of the income the organization rakes in.
If Daniel Montalvo's case succeeds, there will be others to step up and seek compensation for the years of their lives stolen by the cult. And that will put a huge financial burden on Scientology as well. Over a thousand ex-members have spoken out about the mistreatment they suffered.
When Scientology beat their tax exemption out of the IRS, one of the weapons they wielded was the launch of hundreds of lawsuits against the agency by individual Scientologists.
It appears that, in the near future, the Scientology organization is going to get a taste of its own medicine, as ex-members realize they'd better act now before Scientology goes the way of the dodo and the passenger pigeon.
The important differences in this case are:
1. He was a minor when these offences occured.
2. This is recent. Very, very recent. The "we don't do that any more" defense is not feasible. This is only one of several fronts testing Scientology's vulnerabilities. Their drug rehab program, Narconon, is about to get a close scrutiny from Canadian authorities in Quebec.
Their charitable status is coming under question in Australia. Should they lose their tax exemption there, they lose it in the rest of the Commonwealth. Suddenly, they will have to cough up taxes on the flotilla of huge buildings they've been buying up for the past ten years.
Paying minimum wage, paying taxes on real property, losing their foreign workers; all this is going to cost them. Coupled with a report that their income dropped by half between 2008 and 2010 suggests that Scientology as we know it might not be around much longer.