Two former Scientology ministers want the 9th Circuit to let them sue the church for forced labor, rejecting application of the First Amendment’s ministerial exception.

Courthouse News Service reports

Husband and wife Claire and Marc Headley each filed complaints against the Church of Scientology under the Trafficking Victims Act after leaving the Sea Organization, an order of Scientology in which members work long hours and perform hard labor without pay.

The Headleys worked at the church from the early 1990s until 2005. Claire Headley claimed that the church prohibited her from having children and was coerced into having two abortions. She also alleged that members who tried to leave the church were followed, brought back, and deprived of food and sleep, among other punishments.

In his complaint, Marc Headley said ministers at the church physically abused him. He also claimed that he was told that he would be excommunicated from his family if he left the church without first going through a “routing out” process that requires members to continue their duties for free and perform hard labor.

Marc Headley has published a book about his experiences at the church, “Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.”

In 2010, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer threw out the Headleys’ complaints because he found their claims failed under the First Amendment’s ministerial exception.

On Thursday, a three-judge appeals panel heard arguments to revive the case.