Tag: Marc and Claire Headley

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.

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.

Claire and Marc Headley, who left Scientology in 2005, said the church controlled them with threats of harsh punishment and other tactics that prevented them from leaving the Sea Organization, Scientology’s religious order.

But U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer ruled that the Sea Org is protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion.

On Friday, six ex-scientologists spoke out about their experiences inside the Church of Scientology at a Press Conference in Hollywood.

Their tales of harrowing abuse suffered in the Scientology organization are the latest in a long list of exposes about the cult.

Hollywood star Tom Cruise’s marriage to Katie Holmes was set up by the Church of Scientology after a series of fake casting calls for actresses including Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba failed to deliver a suitable wife, according to sensational new claims by a former Scientologist.