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LAWSUIT: OKLAHOMA OFFICIALS HID WRONGDOING

Leland

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LAWSUIT: OKLAHOMA OFFICIALS HID WRONGDOING AT SCIENTOLOGY DRUG REHAB

An explosive lawsuit has been filed by a former Oklahoma state inspector general who says she was fired because, in part, she found evidence of illegal wrongdoing at Scientology’s drug rehab that her bosses then told her to hide.
http://tonyortega.org/2014/08/19/oklahoma/#more-16399

WoW. Dynamite. I suppose that opens the State of Oklahoma up to be added as a Defendant to any lawsuit against Narconon in which injury occured....after the date of 2012....
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Lawsuits allege state suppressed Narconon report, fired investigators

Tulsa World: Lawsuits allege state suppressed Narconon report, fired investigators

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/cour...cle_fd684bc6-6684-510d-a217-5e3e6bce5d0e.html
The state Department of Mental Health “buried” an inspector general’s report recommending that Narconon Arrowhead be shut down after three patients died there, two lawsuits against the agency claim.

The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services fired its inspector general, Kim Poff, and an investigator, Michael DeLong, last year after they objected to the agency’s withholding of the Narconon report, the lawsuits state.

Agency leaders, including Commissioner Terri White, “buried the report, recommendations and findings of Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong because the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology,” the lawsuit alleges.

It notes that Narconon Arrowhead has “significant financial backing” from the Church of Scientology.

Poff sued the agency for wrongful termination, civil conspiracy and other claims in Oklahoma County District Court on Aug. 4. DeLong filed a similar suit on July 30.
Both lawsuits name White, the department’s chief executive officer; Durand Crosby, chief operating officer; Cratus Dewayne Moore, general counsel; and Ellen Buettner, director of human resources for the agency. They also name the state and the board of directors for the Department of Mental Health.

The department did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the lawsuits’ allegations.

Rachel Bussett, an attorney representing Poff and DeLong, said their investigative report recommending that Narconon be closed was submitted to the Department of Mental Health in the fall of 2012. She said the two “were told to make changes (in the report) by top leadership” but refused to do so.

“They wouldn’t fall in line and do what they were told. … They didn’t toe the company line. They were retaliated against for speaking out about wrongdoing.”

Bussett said Poff has since been hired by another state agency, the Department of Human Services, where she formerly worked.

“I don’t believe DHS would have hired her back if they thought there was merit” to her firing by the Department of Mental Health, Bussett said.

Narconon Arrowhead is located on the shores of Lake Eufaula near Canadian, northeast of McAlester. The facility can house up to 200 patients, known in the program as students.

Narconon Arrowhead is the flagship branch of an international drug-rehabilitation organization rooted in the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The program’s unorthodox treatment includes five-hour daily sauna sessions and large doses of niacin — vitamin B3. Additionally, patients go through training based on Hubbard’s teachings.

A multiagency investigation of Narconon Arrowhead began after Stacy Dawn Murphy, 20, died from a drug overdose at the facility in July 2012. Her death followed the deaths of patients Gabriel Graves in 2011 and Hillary Holten in 2012.

“Ms. Poff and her investigators determined that Narconon violated numerous state laws and recommended that the facility be shut down by ODMHSAS,” Poff’s lawsuit states. “Despite this recommendation and the finalization of the reports, leadership at ODMHSAS … had Ms. Poff repeatedly advise the board of directors for ODMHSAS that the investigation was still pending.

“Ms. Poff believed that by not releasing the report, the ODMHSAS failed to protect the interest of Oklahomans at the facilities in the past, present and future. We believe this position played significantly into the decision of the department to terminate her employment along with the employment of one of her investigators,” the lawsuit states.

The Tulsa World has requested a copy of Poff’s final report on Narconon Arrowhead.

A spokesman for the Department of Mental Health has said the agency turned over its findings related to the investigation to state Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s office.

Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Pruitt, said in an email that “the AG’s office doesn’t typically confirm investigations.”

The World reported Sunday that a multicounty grand jury is investigating the facility and has called state officials and at least one former Narconon Arrowhead executive, Eric Tenorio, to testify. The investigation reportedly revolves around insurance fraud.


Following a raid on its Georgia office last year, Narconon agreed to surrender its license there to avoid criminal prosecution. State investigators uncovered nearly $3 million in alleged insurance fraud by Narconon of Georgia, according to news reports.

In Oklahoma, 10 lawsuits have been filed in Pittsburg County District Court alleging wrongful deaths of Narconon patients, negligence, fraud and other claims against the drug rehabilitation facility. Claims include that staff members were trading drugs for sex with patients and that the facility failed to provide medical treatment and oversight, leading to patient deaths.

Following the deaths at Arrowhead, state lawmakers passed legislation touted as giving the state more authority to regulate the facility.

After the law changed, Narconon Arrowhead sought certification as a residential substance abuse treatment center but withdrew its application before Department of Mental Health site visits. The facility has now applied for certification as a substance abuse halfway house, defined by state law as one that provides “low intensity substance abuse treatment in a supportive living environment to facilitate the individual’s reintegration into the community.”

Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306

[email protected]
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse

News 9 Oklahoma: Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse
http://www.news9.com/story/26319970...partment-of-mental-health-and-substance-abuse
OKLAHOMA CITY - Investigators say the Scientology-based drug treatment center Narconon Arrowhead, located on Lake Eufaula, violated numerous state laws and should be shut down. But they also say the Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse hid the results of that investigation, and did nothing.
Former Inspector General Kim Poff and Michael DeLong, the two highest ranking investigators with the agency, say they were fired after they objected to the state keeping the findings of their investigation secret and they have now filed a wrongful termination suit.

In 2012, after three people died in nine months’ time at the Narconon Arrowhead drug treatment facility, the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse launched an investigation. A full year later in August of 2013, family members were still waiting for answers and the agency told News 9 they were still investigating.

But in the lawsuit filed by Poff and Delong the investigators in the case say they finalized their investigation in the fall of 2012, and “determined that the NARCONON facility violated numerous state laws and recommended that the facility be shut down by ODMHSAS.”

“It’s kind of what I suspected all along,” said Robert Murphy. His daughter Stacey died at the facility.

“Their overall recommendation was maybe Narconon should be shut down because people were dying and things weren’t happening the way they were supposed to,” said Rachel Bussett who represents Poff and DeLong who were in charge of the Narconon Investigation.

They allege in the lawsuit that leadership at the agency, including Commissioner Terry White, “attempted to hide the findings of Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong by telling Ms. Poff to advise the Board of Directors for ODMHSAS that the report and investigation were still pending." Their belief is "because the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology.”

“They didn’t want to take on the Church of Scientology,” said Bussett.

But Poff and DeLong say when there were vocal and upset that action wasn't being taken against the center. They were fired.

“You have an obligation as a state to protect people, and yea money’s a problem for everybody but lives are important and they should have figured it out and they shouldn’t have fired the people who were trying to figure it out for them,” Bussett said.
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Kimberly Poff v. Oklahoma Dept Mental Health: Petition w Exhibits (with excerpts)

Kimberly Poff v. Oklahoma Dept Mental Health: Petition w Exhibits (with excerpts).

[Adding some detail from the Petition.]

Kimberly Poff v. Oklahoma Dept Mental Health: Petition w Exhibits

http://www.scribd.com/doc/237238438/Kimberly-Poff-v-Oklahoma-Dept-Mental-Health-Petition-w-Exhibits
37. Poff, as an Inspector General with ODMHSAS, has legitimate knowledge of complaints against NARCONON Arrowhead, a drug treatment facility affiliated with the Church of Scientology, which operates in the McAlester area and is licensed by the State of Oklahoma ODMHSAS.

38. Ms. Poff & Mr. DeLong, were tasked with investigating complaints arising out of the death of the individuals who were in the drug treatment at the Oklahoma NARCONON Facility.

39. As a result of their investigation, Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong determined that the NARCONON facility violated numerous state laws and recommended to leadership that the facility be shut down by ODMHSAS. Ms. PofPs report to Leadership was finalized in the summer/fall of2012.

40. Despite the finalization ofthis report, Leadership atODMHSAS including Terri White, Dewayne Moore, Durand Crosby and/or Ellen Buettner attempted tohide the findings of Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong by telling Ms. Poff to advise the Board of Directors for ODMHSAS that the report and investigation were still pending

41. On information and belief. Leadership at ODMHSAS including Terri White, Dewayne Moore, Durand Crosby and/or Ellen Buettner buried the report, recommendations and findings of Ms. Poff & Mr. DeLong because the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology.

42. Ms. Poff & Mr. DeLong were very vocal in 2012 and 2013 about their objection to ODMHSAS's decision to bury the report and Ms. Poff believes her objection to the decision to bury the findings of the NARCONON investigation directly relate to her termination by the Department.

43. No reason was given for Mr. DeLong's termination. In a letter received from the attorney for ODMHSAS, the Department claimed that Mr. DeLong attempted to intimidate a witness.

44.The alleged act of intimidation arose out of Mr.DeLong standing in the back of the room at a training seminar where the "witness," who was an employee of ODMHSAS, was putting on a training class.

45. The "witness" in question was on suspension from ODMHSAS. On information and belief, the "witness" was the only employee of ODMHSAS, during the tenure of Ms.Poff or Mr. DeLong, to be allowed to work or to teach such a seminar while also on suspension for suspected illegal conduct.

46. The investigation into the sexual harassment involving the suspended employee "witness" was allegedly being conducted by an outside party because of a long standing friendship between Ms. Poff and the employee victim of sexual harassment.

47. Ms. Poff asked for the independent investigation toinsure that her friendship did not act to bias the outcome of the investigation. Therefore, neither Ms. Poff nor her employees, including Mr. DeLong, were investigators on this sexual harassment case.

48. Mr. DeLong's mere act of being in a room with an alleged offender, when he was not acting in his capacity as an investigator in the sexual harassment case and he was merely observing the training, do not rise to the level of witness intimidation.

49. The conduct of Mr. DeLong, if wrongful in any manner, does not rise to the level of termination given his past history of stellar performance within the Department and supports the determination tha tthe termination of DeLong was pretextual.

50. Further, no complaints were made to Mr. DeLong's Supervisor Kim Poff regarding any alleged wrongdoing by him in the course and scope of an investigation.

51.Given that Ms. Poff was Mr. DeLong's direct supervisor, it is also easy to infer that the firing of Mr. DeLong was directly related to the firing of Ms. Poff, which is also wrongful and illegal in violation of state and federal law.

52. Contemporaneously herewith, Mr. DeLong has also filed a petition against all named Defendants herein for wrongful termination, gender/sex and age discrimination, retaliation, negligence, conspiracy and any and all other causes of action which are relevant under the circumstances.

53. Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong adamantly deny any claim that he attempted to intimidate a witness and claims that the ODMHSAS fired him in an attempt to cover up an ongoing pattern of wrongful conduct occurring within the Department.
 
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CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Michael DeLong v Oklahoma Mental Health: Petition (with excerpts)

Michael DeLong v Oklahoma Mental Health: Petition (with excerpts).

[Adding some detail from the Petition.]

Michael DeLong v Oklahoma Mental Health: Petition

http://www.scribd.com/doc/237238599/...ealth-Petition


28. Mr. DeLong and his supervisor, Ms. Poff, were tasked with investigating complaints arising out of the death of three individuals who were in the drug treatment at the Oklahoma NARCONON Facility.

29. As a result of their investigation, Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong determined that the NARCONON facility violated numerous state laws and recommended that the facility be shut down by ODMHSAS. This report was finalized in the summer/fall of2012.

30. Despite the finalization of this report, Leadership at ODMHSAS including Terry White, Dewayne Moore, Durand Crosby and/or Ellen Buettner attempted to hide the findings of Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong by telling Ms. Poff to advise the Board of Directors for ODMHSAS that the report and investigation were still pending.

31. On information and belief. Leadership at ODMHSAS including Terry White, Dewayne Moore, Durand Crosby and Ellen Buettner buried the report and findings of Mr. DeLong and Ms. Poff because the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology.

32. Mr. DeLong and Ms. Poff were very vocal in 2012 and 2013 about their objection to ODMHSAS's decision to bury the report and Mr. DeLong believes his objection to the decision to bury the findings of the NARCONON investigation directly relate to his termination by the Department.


33. Mr. DeLong's supervisor, Ms. Poff, was also terminated on August 23, 2013, at the same time. On information and belief, the reason provided for Ms. Poffs termination was that Leadership at ODMHSAS claimed that the Inspector General's office was no longer able to conduct unbiased investigations without an agenda and that that she allegedly breached confidentiality on investigations.

34. No reason for given for Mr. DeLong's termination. In a letter received from the attorney for ODMHSAS, the Department claimed that Mr. DeLong attempted to intimidate a witness.

35. The alleged act of intimidation arose out of Mr.DeLong standing in the back of the room at a training seminar where the "witness," who was an employee of ODMHSAS, was
putting on a training class.

36. The "witness" in question was on suspension from ODMHSAS because another employee had had accused him of sexual harassment. On information and belief, the "witness" was the only employee of ODMHSAS, during the tenure of Ms. Poff or Mr. DeLong, to be allowed to work or to teach such a seminar while also on suspension for suspected illegal conduct.

37. The investigation into the sexual harassment involving the suspended employee "witness" was allegedly being conducted by an outside party because of a longstanding friendship between Ms. Poff and the employee victim of sexual harassment.

38. Ms. Poff asked for the independent investigation to insure that her friendship did not act to bias the outcome of the investigation.Therefore,neither Ms. Poff nor her employees, including Mr. DeLong, were investigators on this case.

39. Mr. DeLong's mere act of being in a room with an alleged offender, when he was not acting in his capacity as an investigator and he was merely observingthe training,do not rise to the level of witness intimidation.

40. The conduct of Mr. DeLong, if wrongful in any manner, does not rise to the level of termination given his past history of stellar performance within the Department.
41. Given that Ms. Poff was Mr. DeLong's direct supervisor, it is also easy to infer that the firing of Mr. DeLong was directly related to the firing of Ms. Poff, which is also wrongful and illegal in violation of state and federal law.

42. Contemporaneously herewith, Ms. Poff is also filing a petition against all named Defendants herein for wrongful termination, gender/sex and age discrimination, retaliation, negligence, conspiracy and any and all other causes of action which are relevant under the circumstances.

43. Mr. DeLong adamantly denies any claim that he attempted to intimidate a witness and claims that the ODMHSAS fired him in an attempt to cover up an ongoing pattern of wrongful conduct occurring within the Department. He reported the conduct to Management and which Management including: Terry White, Dewayne Moore, Durand Crosby, and Ellen Buettner, attempted to wrongfully hide and conceal from the Board of Directors for the ODMHSAS.
 
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CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse

Disregard the title of the title of the Youtube video. This is the correct video.


Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse


[video=youtube;P97bnv5H9To]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P97bnv5H9To[/video]
 

Free Being Me

Crusader
LAWSUIT: OKLAHOMA OFFICIALS HID WRONGDOING AT SCIENTOLOGY DRUG REHAB

An explosive lawsuit has been filed by a former Oklahoma state inspector general who says she was fired because, in part, she found evidence of illegal wrongdoing at Scientology’s drug rehab that her bosses then told her to hide.
http://tonyortega.org/2014/08/19/oklahoma/#more-16399

This is HUGE! I sincerely hope Ms. Poff prevails with her suit against her former superiors. The same superiors who are state employees paid to supposedly protect the public from such vile $cientology front groups as Narconon. Having this suit and Ms. Poff's findings added to the Grand Jury investigation would be icing on the cake.

The Underground Bunker said:
An explosive lawsuit has been filed by a former Oklahoma state inspector general who says she was fired because, in part, she found evidence of illegal wrongdoing at Scientology’s drug rehab that her bosses then told her to hide.

Kimberly Poff was Inspector General at Oklahoma’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and had worked for the agency for more than 5 years and the state for more than 22 years when she and her employee Michael DeLong were asked to investigate recent deaths at Scientology’s flagship facility of its Narconon drug rehab network, Narconon Arrowhead. [UPDATE: DeLong is also suing, and we have his petition, below.]

According to her legal complaint, “As a result of their investigation, Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong determined that the Narconon facility violated numerous state laws and recommended to leadership that the facility be shut down.” Her finalized report on the investigation was submitted by the fall of 2012.

But Poff alleges that her bosses attempted to “hide the findings” of her report by telling her to advise the department’s board of directors that “the report and investigation was still pending.” >snip<
 
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Leland

Crusader
Re: Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse

Disregard the title of the title of the Youtube video. This is the correct video.


Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse


[video=youtube;P97bnv5H9To]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P97bnv5H9To[/video]

Hope this goes nationwide....great bad PR and additional problems for the C of $.
 

NoName

A Girl Has No Name
Hey Davey, the SP's have spoken:

[video=youtube_share;mNqZjlS-kK8]http://youtu.be/mNqZjlS-kK8[/video]
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
OK Policy Blog: Lawsuits allege state suppressed Narconon report, fired investigators
http://okpolicy.org/know-oklahoma-schools-begin-academic-year-800-teacher-vacancies
Lawsuits allege state suppressed Narconon report, fired investigators

The state Department of Mental Health “buried” an inspector general’s report recommending that Narconon Arrowhead be shut down after three patients died there, two lawsuits against the agency claim. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services fired its inspector general, Kim Poff, and an investigator, Michael DeLong, last year after they objected to the agency’s withholding of the Narconon report, the lawsuits state. Agency leaders, including Commissioner Terri White, “buried the report, recommendations and findings of Ms. Poff and Mr. DeLong because the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology,” the lawsuit alleges.

Read more from the Tulsa World.
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
State Senator Speaks Out After Latest Narconon Lawsuit

News 9 Oklahoma: State Senator Speaks Out After Latest Narconon Lawsuit
http://www.news9.com/story/26330942/state-senator-speaks-out-after-latest-narconon-lawsuit
OKLAHOMA CITY - A state Senator is speaking out after two former investigators with the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse say the agency hid the results of the high profile investigation into Narconon Arrowhead.
The agency launched the investigation in July 2012 after three people died at the Scientology based drug treatment facility. More than a year later, the agency claimed it was still investigating. But two lawsuits filed by Kim Poff, the former Inspector general for the agency, and Michael DeLong, the other investigator in the case, say the report was finalized in the fall of 2012.

The lawsuit says investigators on the case found the facility broke numerous state laws and they wanted to shut it down. But leadership at ODMHSAS "attempted to hide the findings" because they believe "the Department did not want to get involved with litigation involving the Church of Scientology."

“That would be extremely concerning and disappointing in light of the legislation we passed giving them the authority to do something,” said Sen. Tom Ivester, (D) - Sayre.

Ivester was behind a new law that took effect in 2013 giving the Department of Mental Health greater oversight into the facility.

“They would be able to go in for inspections unannounced, announced,” he explained. “And if the allegations are true the Department of Mental Health hasn't done it, they just haven't done it. We gave them the authority and they haven't done it.”

8/19/2014 Related Story: Narconon Investigators Sue Department Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse

The Department of Mental Health has turned the results of the investigation over to the Oklahoma Attorney General and a spokesperson says the Attorney General's Office provided guidance throughout the process.

Public Information Director Jeffrey Dismukes says state statute prohibits them from publicly sharing investigative records. But family members of those who died in the facility are asking a judge to release the report. Ivester agrees it should be made public.

“Let's look at it and talk about it and see what the Department of Mental Health's Actions were, why they didn't act upon it,” he said. “We know there was something wrong because we've got three deaths. Who is responsible? Who knew what and when did they know it? That's what we need to know.”

A judge is expected to make a decision late next month on releasing the results of the report.

In regards to the lawsuits Dismukes said they were unable to speak to any specifics regarding pending litigation, but did release this statement:

“These lawsuits are completely without merit, and the department plans to vigorously fight these frivolous claims. The plaintiff's attorneys are making claims that they know we can't respond to in the press due to confidentiality requirements and limits placed upon the department in accordance with state statute; however, the truth will come-out in court. We look forward to presenting all the facts before a judge and jury, and showing that the actions of the department were appropriate and just. It will be obvious that the two plaintiffs were terminated for cause.”
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Kim Poff fired by Oklahoma agency after stories described Scientology dispute

Kim Poff fired by Oklahoma agency after stories described Scientology dispute.

Tony Ortega: Kim Poff fired by Oklahoma agency after stories (including ours) described Scientology dispute
http://tonyortega.org/2014/11/11/ki...urs-described-scientology-dispute/#more-17892

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Now it can be told: Just days after we reported, along with local Oklahoma media, that Kim Poff had filed suit against the state’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuses Services (ODMHSAS), she was fired by another Oklahoma state agency, the Department of Human Services.

Her attorney, Rachel Bussett, tells us she believes those events are directly connected.

“On August 18, you and News 9 reported her lawsuit. And then on the 19th of August, the story was reported by the Daily Oklahoman and the Tulsa World,” Bussett told us by telephone yesterday. “It’s our understanding that Kim’s file was pulled the next day, on the 20th, and she was fired on the 22nd.”

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Dana Hertneky has posted the same story to the News on 6 and News 9 websites. News on 6 covers Tulsa. News 8 covers Oklahoma City.

Former Narconon Investigator Says She Was Fired For Going Public

http://www.newson6.com/story/273575...estigator-says-she-was-fired-for-going-public

http://www.news9.com/story/27357551/former-narconon-investigator-says-she-was-fired-for-going-public
[video=youtube;zjgqcQXh_OM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgqcQXh_OM[/video]
 
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