OSA Press Release (May 29, 1984)

Source  “PR Newswire”
Author  Kathy Gorgon
Date  May 29th, 1984¹

LOS ANGELES, May 29/PRN – Cross-examination of a former Church of Scientology
employee  revealed  that  her  fears  of  being  harassed  by  the  church  were  completely
unfounded,  according  to  the  Church  of  Scientology,  which  released  court  transcripts
today.

During her second day of cross-examination, attorney Barrett Litt of Los Angeles elicited
an admission from Laurel Sullivan, 34, that she could not cite any factual instances to
support her earlier allegations of harassment by the church. Additionally, according to the
transcripts,  she  could  not  support  her  earlier  testimony  that  others  had  been  sued  as  a
form of harassment for leaving the church.

Sullivan’s testimony was sought by attorneys seeking to defend Gerald Armstrong, 37, a
former  church  archivist  who  admitted  that  he  took  thousands  of  pages  of  valuable
historical material belonging to Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard when he
left his position in 1981.

Among  the  documents  taken  now  under  the  custody  of  the  court  is  one  unpublished
manuscript  of  Hubbard’s  valued  at  $1  million.  The  church  is  suing  Armstrong  in  Los
Angeles Superior Court for the return of the documents and for $50,000 in damages.

Church attorney Robert Harris of Los Angeles confronted Sullivan with sworn testimony
she had made in a prior court case which completely conflicted with her testimony in the
Armstrong trial regarding the alleged practice of “Fair Game” by the church.

According to records of that testimony entered in court today, Sullivan stated that she
knew of no policies or practices of the church which try to convince or prevent people
from leaving active participation in Scientology and encourage church members to harass
people.

Sullivan stated, “If somebody just left (Scientology) and said ‘I don’t want anything more
to do with it’ … then I would sit down and talk with them, and usually the people would
come back to the org (Scientology organization).”

Attorney Harris asked Sullivan if she did tell the truth in her prior testimony. Sullivan
replied that she thought she did. According to church spokesman Sandy Block, the trial is
expected to continue for up to three more weeks.
Hubbard’s  most  recent  best-selling  work,  “Battlefield  Earth,”  is  not  only  currently  in
production for the screen, but a musical sound track written by Hubbard for the book has
been released under the same title.

Contact – Kathy Gorgon of the Church of Scientology at 213-662-9431.

Notes