1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION LUIS A. GARCIA SAZ and Wife, MARIA DEL ROCIO BURGOS GARCIA, Plaintiffs, vs. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., and CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SHIP SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., Defendants. / CASE NO: 8:13-CV-220-T27 TBM

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE REPLY TO DEFENDANTS’ OPPOSITION TO

MOTION TO VACATE ARBITRATION AWARDS

The Plaintiffs, LUIS A. GARCIA SAZ and MARIA DEL ROCIO BURGOS GARCIA, under M.D. Fla. Rule 3.01(d), file this Motion for Leave to File Reply to the

Church’s

1

 Opposition to Motion to Vacate Arbitration Award (DE 275), and Notice of Filing Properly Marked Exhibits (DE 276). Both of these documents include an exhibit, A(3), that the Plaintiffs have never seen before titled,

“Religious Arbitration Instructions

,

”

and dated October 23, 2017, the day before the arbitration  began (DE 275-4 at 1-2; DE 276-4 at 1-2). Fundamental fairness requires that the Plaintiffs be allowed to file a 5-page reply to respond to this new document. 1. The Church claims that exhibit A(3) is the instructions the International Justice Chief

(“IJC”) Mike Ellis gave to the arbitration panel orally and in writing (DE 275 at 11

-12 & DE 275-1 at 2). The IJC

’s declaration

 

asserts, “These instructions include the requirement that the arbitrators

1

The Defendants, the CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC. and the CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SHIP SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., will  be referred to

collectively as “the Church.” All emphasis is supplied unless otherwise indicated.

 

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are to apply Scientology principles to the Garcias’ claims in a neutral and fair manner.” (DE 27

6-1 at 2). 2. The Plaintiffs never saw these instructions. The IJC did not allow the Plaintiffs to be  present when he

“hatted

,

”

 or trained, the arbitration panel by giving them extensive documents and  policies to review (DE 272 at 6, 8, 10, 21). The only instruction the IJC gave the arbitrators in the Plaintiffs

’ presence was that the only issue for the panel was whether the Plaintiffs

filled out a CVB form to request a refund (DE 272-3 at 11). 3. Before the arbitration, the Church assured this Court that whether the Plaintiffs requested a refund by filling out

a form with the Church’s Claims Verification Board (CVB) would not be

dispositive of the issues in this suit (

 Id.

 at 3, 14). In direct contradiction to the Church

’s

 representation to this Court, the written instructions tell the arbitration panel that the only issue to be decided is whether the Plaintiffs followed the CVB procedure to request a refund (DE 276-4 at 1). 4. Far from instructing the arbitration panel to be fair and neutral, the instructions use obscure jargon to hide that Suppressive Persons cannot get a fair arbitration (DE 276-4 at 1-2). At a minimum, an evidentiary hearing is required to determine their meaning and impact on the arbitration panel. Theodore Babbitt, counsel for the Plaintiffs, certifies that he has conferred with opposing counsel, F. Wallace Pope, Jr., and the parties cannot agree on the resolution of this motion. DATED: This 28th day of February, 2018. By: /s/ Theodore Babbitt Theodore Babbitt Fla. Bar No: 091146 Babbitt & Johnson, P.A. P. O. Box 4426 West Palm Beach, FL 33402-4426 T: (561) 684-2500; F: 561-684-6308 tedbabbitt@babbitt-johnson.com

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that, on February 28, 2018, we electronically filed the foregoing document with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF. We also certify that the foregoing document is being served this day on all counsel or pro se parties identified below in the manner specified, either via transmission of Notices of Electronic Filing generated by CM/ECF or in some other authorized manner for those counsel or parties who are not authorized to receive electronically Notices of Electronic Filings. F. Wallace Pope, Jr., Esq. FBN: 124449 Robert Vernon Potter, Esq. FBN: 363006 Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, LLP 911 Chestnut Street Clearwater, FL 33757 Phone: (727) 461-1818; Fax: (727) 462-0365 E-mail: wallyp@ipfirm.com  bobp@jpfirm.com Counsel for Flag Church & Ship Church Eric M. Lieberman  NYBN: 105543 Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Liberman, P.C. 45 Broadway, Suite 1700  New York, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 254-1111; Fax: (212) 674-4614 E-mail: elieberman@rbskl.com Counsel for Flag Church & Ship Church Jane Kreusler-Walsh Fla. Bar No: 272371 Rebecca Mercier Vargas Fla. Bar No: 0150037 Kreusler-Walsh, Vargas & Serafin, P.A. 501 South Flagler Drive, Suite 503 West Palm Beach, FL 33401-5913 T: (561) 659-5455; F: (561) 820-8762 E-mail:  janewalsh@kwvsappeals.com rvargas@kwvsappeals.com Counsel for Plaintiffs Ronald Weil Fla. Bar No: 169966 Weil Law Firm, P.A. Southwest Financial Center, Suite 900 200 South Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33131 T: (305) 372-5352; F: (305) 372-5355 E-mail: rweil@weillawfirm.net Counsel for Plaintiffs By: /s/ Theodore Babbitt Theodore Babbitt Fla. Bar No: 091146

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