Personal Injury Law

Lawsuit Blasts Church of Scientology?s Alleged Use of Child Labor

By guest-writer

The Church of Scientology has recently faced increased scrutiny after a series of allegations questioned the Los Angeles-based church?s treatment of its younger members.

A new personal injury lawsuit filed by a former member of the church raises even more questions about Scientology?s practices.

The injury lawsuit, filed by Daniel Montalvo, cites numerous types of misconduct, including the church?s failure to comply with child labor laws, failure to report child neglect, violation of labor laws, and the practice of false imprisonment.

Before filing the lawsuit, Montalvo had worked for the church in the California city of Commerce. When he was 19 years old, he escaped from Commerce with the aid of a former member of the church.

Sources indicate, however, that some Scientologists allegedly convinced Montalvo to return to California. Montalvo claims that, upon his return, a group of Scientologists falsely imprisoned him.

Later, Montalvo was taken to a Los Angeles sheriff?s office, where he was arrested for allegedly stealing hard drives from one of the church?s offices. Montalvo claims these hard drives contain information that can help ?protect? him from the church.

The lawsuit makes several fascinating allegations. Montalvo says that he grew up in the church since the age of 5. His parents were allegedly instructed to surrender physical custody of their son to the Sea Org, a group of elite members of the church.

The suit also claims that the church forced Montalvo to sign two billion-year contracts agreeing to stay in the church, prohibited him from reading newspapers and going to bookstores, and educated him for only one hour per week.

Perhaps the most controversial claim is that the Church of Scientology paid Montalvo between $35 and $50 per week for up to 100 hours of weekly labor. This work included construction tasks with heavy machinery such as scissor lifts and forklifts.

Montalvo also claims to have lost part of a finger while working in a printing office that was publishing works written by the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard.

While fellow Scientologists took him to the hospital after the incident, he was allegedly told not to mention that he had been doing volunteer work or that he was affiliated with Scientology.

Montalvo?s allegations of forced labor, child abuse, and false imprisonment are all very serious charges. In his lawsuit, Montalvo is seeking both punitive and compensatory damages for his alleged mistreatment.

Unfortunately, physical and mental abuse towards children occurs very frequently in the United States. If you have been injured by someone else?s mistreatment, you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit.

You don?t have to be victimized by abuse. If you have suffered injuries from being abused, contact a local injury lawyer today to learn more about your legal rights.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on March 22, 2011 (boomark / email).