Judges frustrated as Scientology head David Miscavige dodges summons

LOS ANGELES (CN) — David Miscavige, the second and current head of the Church of Scientology, is a hard man to find.

Plaintiffs in two separate cases are trying to serve Miscavige with complaints and summons, but the religious leader has proved elusive. On Thursday, a Superior Court judge agreed to a request by Miscavige's lawyers to quash a summons — affirming in effect that he had not been properly served and that the plaintiff, who is suing a Scientology recruiter and the church itself as well as Miscavige for sexual assault, must keep trying.

"This case has exhibited something that the rules were not established to allow," the plaintiff's lawyer, Carmen Scott, told the judge before the ruling. "There’s no question that David Miscavige has actual notice of this case."

She added, "Mr. Miscavige's service-dodging should not allow him to win. It makes a mockery of the rules of the system."

Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt was sympathetic to Scott's plight, telling her, "I think disputes about service and summons and complaint are a great waste of time and money."

But the judge said his hands were tied. The summons, which has been left with security guards and other functionaries at an array of Scientology-owned buildings, didn't "meet the requirements under the statute."

Scott and her team must prove they've exhausted all options — that they've tried to serve Miscavige any way they can. Once they do that, they can file a motion to be allowed to serve Miscavige by publication, or by placing a tiny ad in a newspaper. Only then will the Scientology leader be forced to file a response to the lawsuit.

Service dodging, in short, is a delaying tactic, designed to cost the plaintiffs time and money.

"He has a history of evading service and process," Scott said after the hearing.

Neither the spokesperson nor the lawyer for the Church of Scientology returned an email requesting a comment.

The lawsuit in question was first filed in December 2022 by an unnamed plaintiff who, in her complaint, charged the Church of Scientology with creating "a culture and atmosphere in which the sexual assault of minors ... [is] tolerated, and even facilitated."

"It is common knowledge to members of Scientology that older members engage in illicit sexual activities with minors," the complaint says. "The practice is both endorsed and facilitated by the Scientology doctrine."

The plaintiff, identified in the complaint as Jane Doe, says she was born into and grew up in the church. She says she was "groomed" by a recruiter for Sea Org — an elite unit within the church — named Gavin Potter, who began sexually abusing her while she was still a minor and would drive him home from work.

When she told a coworker of the abuse, both she and Potter were given a choice: be assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force, essentially a work camp for misbehaving Sea Org members, or marry. That same day, she says, they traveled to Las Vegas for the wedding. Later that night, she felt "coerced and compelled" into having sex with Potter.

Eventually, when she was 23 years old, she escaped the church, along with her daughter.

On Tuesday, the issue of Miscavige's service dodging came up in another case: the lawsuit filed against the church by actress Leah Remini. Not only has Miscavige (through the Religious Technology Center, the publishing arm of Scientology, which he also heads) filed a motion to quash his summons in that case, but he has also filed a motion opposing an application to be served by publication, a move so rare the judge said it was the first time he'd ever seen one.

"Congratulations, you're the first person to file an objection to an application of service by publication," Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock curtly told the defense attorney. "He’s going to get served. It’s going to happen. So you may as well make it easier and resolve it among yourselves."

He later reiterated, "I don't want to be involved. He's got teams of lawyers. He should just appear, and defend himself. It's very frustrating for me. We’ve reached a new level of craziness."

"Personal service," said Judge Hammock as the hearing came to a close. "This is the most antiquated law of all time."

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