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Scientology Settles with Debbie Cook

Mick Wenlock

Admin Emeritus (retired)
Does anybody remember how much hush money Mike Rinder was supposedly offered (and turned down) when DM's legal eagles cornered him in Denver in 2009?

Just wonderin'. :confused2:

That would give us a clue as to how much Debbie's deal would potentially be worth.

ILove2Lurk

Debbie's deal was worth however much she had the guts to hold out from - so it could be anything from $50K to $5 million

I would guess it would closer to the lower figure than the higher. It all depends on the leverage the cofs could have had. And I am guessing they had a lot.

Scientologists are cowards, thats what Hubbard's crap creates.
 
Me too. Absolutely. This is fucked up.

What is it gonna take to bring these muther fuckers down?

Scientology will not suddenly come crashing down, it will slowly fade away and this process has been taking place for quite some time.


With every passing year they are smaller and less relevant,

so it's not a question of what's it going to take to bring them down,

since they are already down,

it's a question of how long will it be before the last one out turns off the lights.

make no mistake about it their condition is terminal, there will be no recovery for Hubbard's Cult.
 

I told you I was trouble

Suspended animation
No business can flourish and prosper (lol) with any of the following factors in play and the cofs has the whole lot.

1. It has no tangible product whatsoever.
2. It has a lot of very disgruntled past customers, worldwide.
3. It has possibly the worst PR/press/past legal drama's known to man, it's reputation is in tatters.
4. It has a lot of current very disgruntled customers, worldwide.
5. It has the potential every single day for something else to come out and they won't know what or from where until it's too late.
6. They have ESMB which is full of people with very long memories (and docs) that have people they care about still trapped in the mind fuck.
7. They have the Indies that are prone to hissy fits and want the world to know that 'they have the technology' ... and that they have it cheaper!
8. They have Anonymous and the various other critics that don't like losing (even if it's 'just a game' to them).
9. Ordinary people (the potential fresh meat) find the whole thing very funny and very creepy (Hello Xenu!).


The cofs is just a pile of real estate (with some unfortunates trapped within it) pretending to be a church that has a philosophy that will 'save the planet'.

:melodramatic:

I wonder where will the next Debbie Cook surface from?

Yawn.

 

Jump

Operating teatime
No business can flourish and prosper (lol) with any of the following factors in play and the cofs has the whole lot.

1. It has no tangible product whatsoever.
2. It has a lot of very disgruntled past customers, worldwide.
3. It has possibly the worst PR/press/past legal drama's known to man, it's reputation is in tatters.
4. It has a lot of current very disgruntled customers, worldwide.
5. It has the potential every single day for something else to come out and they won't know what or from where until it's too late.
6. They have ESMB which is full of people with very long memories (and docs) that have people they care about still trapped in the mind fuck.
7. They have the Indies that are prone to hissy fits and want the world to know that 'they have the technology' ... and that they have it cheaper!
8. They have Anonymous and the various other critics that don't like losing (even if it's 'just a game' to them).
9. Ordinary people (the potential fresh meat) find the whole thing very funny and very creepy (Hello Xenu!).


The cofs is just a real estate company pretending to be a church that has a philosophy that will 'save the planet'.

:melodramatic:

I wonder where will the next Debbie Cook surface from?

Yawn.


Which real estate company makes you


pay for your own house,
pay to restore it to pristine condition
or do all that work yourself for $1 per hour,
then takes the deeds from you
and then makes you have to pay rent thereafter
(along with every utility expense and upkeep)
?



That company wouldn't last too long either :duh:
 

KissMyStats

Patron with Honors
This really sucks. And as many of you said in this thread, it's going to be a slow death, dying out gradually, not a big crashing down. The only thing keeping it alive, or keeping it APPEARING to be alive, is their massive cash reserves and the few people left who keep on giving all their money to it. They could have this Truman Show propped up for quite awhile I suppose. Wow, this is depressing. Think I'll have some vodka and look at a protest video to cheer me up !
 

Man de la Mancha

Patron with Honors
well some... on lines scientologists who helped her need to be concerned about the kr that is going to come

If she rolls on her supporters, then the whole thing looks like a mission to put a few "heads on a pike" and show the devotees what will happen if they support dissenters.
 

The_Fixer

Class Clown
My guess is the clue for this whole deal is in how it started out.

Debbie is a dyed in the wool Scientologist. Her only beef was with Miscavige and his management of the church.

She intended no harm whatsoever to the CoS at all. However, her actions did turn out to become opposite to her intention.

Everyone has lost here. The CoS has lost money and even more face yet again.

I think for Debbie, it was never about the money. It was the ideals. She has lost here because DM is still running it and she is now out of the church in disgrace. I don't think she wanted this outcome at all. The money and the legal action finishing would be a relief, but that's about it, really.

She has now lost what was dear to her. She may become (sigh) a Marty or equivalent devotee now, if she decides to become a desperately seeking Susan. After all, technically, she is still a Scientologist.

Perhaps in time she will come to her senses about the cult and break out into some kind of sweat about how lucky she was to get away with this so lightly in the end.

I'm not sure that I would like to hold my breath over this one..
 

Free to shine

Shiny & Free
Village Voice...

UPDATE 2: For those who seem to think Debbie Cook walked away with a large cash payment, you might review the facts in this case first. I just had a lengthy talk with Scott Pilutik, our resident legal resident on Scientology matters. He reminds me what Cook was facing in this case: she had put out a single e-mail, expressing her religious feelings, and for that she had been sued by a church that was demanding $300,000 in damages and probably a lot more than that as the case went forward.

Cook had to be concerned about the draconian nature of the agreement she had signed in 2007, which was simply astounding in some of its terms. As Jeffrey had pointed out to me, if they strictly followed the terms of that agreement, the church was entitled to ask for millions in damages from Cook and Baumgarten.

At any time, however, the Church of Scientology could simply drop this case and walk away from it if they wanted to. So why, no matter how well Cook had been doing in this case so far -- and she had been doing very well -- would the church pay her to get out of the lawsuit?
More - http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/04/scientology_settles_debbie_cook.php

JustCallMeMary 2 hours ago in reply to Jgg

I think in the long run many will see that this case worked out OK, considering all factors involved.

One needs to keep in mind the NDA was violated by Debbie and her husband in order to get that email out. Brave as that was, it was done at a cost. That the court allowed Debbie to speak up further on the horrors of her experience and about "the hole' is to our advantage in our efforts to see this cult exposed but it was a limited 'win' because in the end, was there enough money to support a lawsuit against the church and an assured lengthy contested one against the Baumgarten's when such a NDA existed in the first place? I don't think so. If push came to shove, I doubt Mark and Mike would have gotten on the stand - being subject themselves to having signed some non disclosure type of agreements along the way through their history in the church - as is the church's standard operating proceedure with confidential matters. If they got up there at all, it might not have worked out to debbie's advantage. I think her lawyer was smart to settle this. Debbie is off facebook, she and her husband have probably gotten out of having to pay many thousands of dollars, as Tony updated us about above. But it is doubtful they walked away with any money beyond maybe having the balance of what must be enormous legal fees covered. I think it is important for people to see where their money went. The Hole is on record. The abuses are on record.

Will Debbie do an A-E and get back into the church? I doubt it. We shall see....

There is some really good discussion in the Comments section.
 
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Dave B.

Maximus Ultimus Mostimus
The cult really knows how to get MAX PR value out of these things. Eastgate charges dropped same day as the Cook case going away. Of course will be spun as massive victories. :melodramatic:
 
Originally Posted by Jquepublic

Well, fuck.

Really hoped she'd take this thing all the way. :(
I think it boils down to one of two scenarios - they had dirt on her and pressured her into settling -or - they paid her to shut up. I don't know how much I believe Marty's comment, she settled to make them go away.

It is interesting, her e-mail was about putting in ethics on the church, but did that happen? No, not really. She did what all Sios did - put out a bunch of false PR to cover her real motives. Why am I not surprised?

Why did I believe it? Because I assumed she wanted what I wanted. Played again. Sigh.

Mimsey
 
The cult really knows how to get MAX PR value out of these things. Eastgate charges dropped same day as the Cook case going away. Of course will be spun as massive victories. :melodramatic:

L Ron Hubbard being hauled away in handcuffs would have been spun as a massive victory, when reality is not part of the equation everything is a massive victory.
 

LA SCN

NOT drinking the kool-aid
The cult really knows how to get MAX PR value out of these things. Eastgate charges dropped same day as the Cook case going away. Of course will be spun as massive victories. :melodramatic:

As far as the True Believers will ever know, it IS a massive victory. :angry:
 

BunnySkull

Silver Meritorious Patron
My guess is the clue for this whole deal is in how it started out.

Debbie is a dyed in the wool Scientologist. Her only beef was with Miscavige and his management of the church.

She intended no harm whatsoever to the CoS at all. However, her actions did turn out to become opposite to her intention.
Everyone has lost here. The CoS has lost money and even more face yet again.

I think for Debbie, it was never about the money. It was the ideals. She has lost here because DM is still running it and she is now out of the church in disgrace. I don't think she wanted this outcome at all. The money and the legal action finishing would be a relief, but that's about it, really.

She has now lost what was dear to her. She may become (sigh) a Marty or equivalent devotee now, if she decides to become a desperately seeking Susan. After all, technically, she is ..e..

Wait, what? If it was all about ideals and taking down DM and not about money then why the hell would she take the settlement and stfu? It's the polar opposite actions of a martyr or true believer. If it was really all about the delusional mission of "saving the tech from DM" then she'd still be fighting, no amount of money would deter her.

Also, she won't be doing anything with Marty. He's already hinting as part of her settlement she will have no contact with the indies and may be turning over info about Marty and others as part of her settlement.

I do wonder if some of the "under the radar" Scientologist who donated directly to Debbie will have their names turned over to the cult - Marty implies it is a likely condition of any settlement. Pretty fucked up if so, but then I don't think any one thought Debbie was a paragon of virtue and integrity.

Debbie basically went against the entire PR image she created to get cash from the indies - as someone who was fighting to save the most valuable technology on the planet from an SP! Maybe she just did what every Scientologist is suppose to do - ask herself "What would Ron do." All of us here know Ron would have fucked over everyone, taken the money and ran like hell - so Debbie was just following Ron.

I do wonder how much her husband may have had to do with this. One thing I can reveal now, that I heard directly from a involved party, was that Wayne had openly expressed a desire to return to the SO - no shit. This was after the court testimony and everything. I guess it makes some sense, where as Debbie had to work her ass off Wayne was probably a bit of a prince in the SO. He had no heavy exec work load, but was married to the queen bee. So he prolly got most of the perks, with none of the bullshit most SO members endure.

I just hope they weren't stupid enough to actually believe they could return to the CoS fold in any capacity if they cooperated and settled. I could see the cult making all kinds of promises but I hope the couple isn't deluded enough to believe they could ever have any type of cordial relationship with the cult or any of it's members. If they are insanely deludedly though I wonder if the cult would trot them out as repentant and make them testify to the evil influence of the indies and their attack on the church. Hoo boy, it's far fetched, but not impossible to think about when you have people as deluded and mixed up as those two. See a whole Freedumb magazine about Debbies trip to the dark side , lol.

Ah, well, it will be interesting to see if we ever hear from Debbie and Wayne again or if they will go off into the sunset like so many other former execs. I hope some insiders keep an eye out for any sightings of her having any type of involvement with the cult over the next few years.
 

Mick Wenlock

Admin Emeritus (retired)
I think it boils down to one of two scenarios - they had dirt on her and pressured her into settling -or - they paid her to shut up. I don't know how much I believe Marty's comment, she settled to make them go away.

It is interesting, her e-mail was about putting in ethics on the church, but did that happen? No, not really. She did what all Sios did - put out a bunch of false PR to cover her real motives. Why am I not surprised?

Why did I believe it? Because I assumed she wanted what I wanted. Played again. Sigh.

Mimsey

and you know what Mimsey? We'll get played again, and again but you know what that shows? We are far better people than we were when we were in and we are far better people than they are now.

I would much rather be us than them.
 

Mick Wenlock

Admin Emeritus (retired)
Wait, what? If it was all about ideals and taking down DM and not about money then why the hell would she take the settlement and stfu? It's the polar opposite actions of a martyr or true believer. If it was really all about the delusional mission of "saving the tech from DM" then she'd still be fighting, no amount of money would deter her.

Also, she won't be doing anything with Marty. He's already hinting as part of her settlement she will have no contact with the indies and may be turning over info about Marty and others as part of her settlement.

I do wonder if some of the "under the radar" Scientologist who donated directly to Debbie will have their names turned over to the cult - Marty implies it is a likely condition of any settlement. Pretty fucked up if so, but then I don't think any one thought Debbie was a paragon of virtue and integrity.

Debbie basically went against the entire PR image she created to get cash from the indies - as someone who was fighting to save the most valuable technology on the planet from an SP! Maybe she just did what every Scientologist is suppose to do - ask herself "What would Ron do." All of us here know Ron would have fucked over everyone, taken the money and ran like hell - so Debbie was just following Ron.

I do wonder how much her husband may have had to do with this. One thing I can reveal now, that I heard directly from a involved party, was that Wayne had openly expressed a desire to return to the SO - no shit. This was after the court testimony and everything. I guess it makes some sense, where as Debbie had to work her ass off Wayne was probably a bit of a prince in the SO. He had no heavy exec work load, but was married to the queen bee. So he prolly got most of the perks, with none of the bullshit most SO members endure.

I just hope they weren't stupid enough to actually believe they could return to the CoS fold in any capacity if they cooperated and settled. I could see the cult making all kinds of promises but I hope the couple isn't deluded enough to believe they could ever have any type of cordial relationship with the cult or any of it's members. If they are insanely deludedly though I wonder if the cult would trot them out as repentant and make them testify to the evil influence of the indies and their attack on the church. Hoo boy, it's far fetched, but not impossible to think about when you have people as deluded and mixed up as those two. See a whole Freedumb magazine about Debbies trip to the dark side , lol.

Ah, well, it will be interesting to see if we ever hear from Debbie and Wayne again or if they will go off into the sunset like so many other former execs. I hope some insiders keep an eye out for any sightings of her having any type of involvement with the cult over the next few years.

I have no more proof than Marty does but, like him, I know how the CofS operates and it will have gone for getting the maximum information for its buck. There is no doubt about that.

There would be no chance that the cofs would miss out on getting names, and I am thinking that Cook will throw everyone who reached out to her under the bus.

Anyone who thinks this person has any courage, any willingness to protect others should probably re-join the cofs. You would be gullible enough for the SO.
 

Mick Wenlock

Admin Emeritus (retired)
I think it boils down to one of two scenarios - they had dirt on her and pressured her into settling -or - they paid her to shut up. I don't know how much I believe Marty's comment, she settled to make them go away.

the cofs had 35 years of dirt on her, a lot of it in her own handwriting.
 

LA SCN

NOT drinking the kool-aid
Has there been any opinion from a legal who is familiar with the case, the original non-disclosure agreement and Debbie Cooks position, as to what the settlement agreement might be?
 

freethinker

Sponsor
I think it should be heavily promoted that, coincidentaly, the CO$ ended two potentialy devastating court cases in the same day. I think that should be writeen about in every newspaper in two countries with lots of questions as to how such a coincidence should occur.

That they should have such victory simultaneosly is just astoundingly against all odds. Hell, wouldn't winning the lottery have been easier? I don't ever recall any Corporation knocking off two major victories in one day.

What are the odds? This should be examined closely by the media.:biggrin:
 
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