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UNITED ST TE DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORID T MP DIVISION

LUIS A. GARCIA SAZ and Wife, MARIA DEL ROCIO BURGOS GARDIA, Plaintiffs, vs. CHRUCH OF SCIENTOLOGY RELIGIOUS TRUST; CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC.; CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SHIP SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., d/b/a MAGESTIC CRUISE LINES; lAS ADMINISTRATIONS, INC.,; U.S. lAS MEMBERS TRUST, Defendants. CASE NO: 8:13-CV-220-T27

TBM

PLAINTIFFS RESPONSE TO DEFENDANTS OPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE 10 PAGE RELY MEMORANDUM

Plaintiffs by their undersigned counsel respond to Defendants above-cited motion.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiffs, indeed, object to Defendants filing 10 more pages

of

argument on their motion. Local Rule

3.0l c)

clearly provides that ordinarily replies should not be filed. The Rule allows Defendants, as the moving party,

t

file a 25 page brief but limits

Case 8:13-cv-00220-JDW-TBM Document 34 Filed 04/24/13 Page 1 of 3 PageID 858

Plaintiffs response to 20 pages. Allowing Defendants an additional

1

page argument is not only unfair

but

invites a request for surrebuttal and a never ending argument. Defendants had the same access to the documents in question as did the Plaintiffs. Defendants clearly knew that most

of

the agreements, which included the issue

of

arbitration, were signed by the Plaintiffs in California and that the services related to those agreements were provided in California. Surely the question

of

choice

of

laws is one that the Defendants could have and should have contemplated. They chose not

to

address that in their brief. Regardless, Plaintiffs position is that whether California or Florida law applies, the result is the same and that arbitration should not be ordered. With respect to the declarations filed by the Plaintiffs, each

of

those declarations is backed up

by

written Scientology policies which have been provided to the Court in full. The Court is certainly capable

of

reviewing those written policies

to

see whether Plaintiffs declarations are accurate. What Defendants seek to do

by

claiming that those policies invoke a First Amendment privilege is to have the Court consider the declarations filed by the Defendants and ignore those filed

by

the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs never raise religious issues in their brief. To the contrary, it is Plaintiffs position that whether Scientology is or is not a religion is irrelevant. Plaintiffs complaint is based upon fraud and Defendants cannot possibly claim that fraud is a part

of

their religion or religious practices.

f

the Defendant were the Catholic Church instead

of

the Church

of

Scientology, there could not be a claim that it could willfully defraud people and be relieved

of

civil responsibility because

of

the religious nature

of

its practices. The Court has the documents signed

by

the Plaintiffs. Those documents, while purporting

to

require arbitration

of

only a claim for the return

of

payments for religious


services which claim is not even included in the Complaint. Said document clearly does not provide rules

of

arbitration.

If

it is Defendants' position that somewhere among the millions

of

pages

of

Scientology literature such rules exist but have never been revealed to the Plaintiffs, then that existence would hardly matter.

ON LUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs object to Defendants' Motion to file a reply and request that the Court deny that Motion. I HEREBY CERTIFY that on April 24, 2013, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk

of

the Court

by

using the CM/ECF system which will send a notice

of

electronic filing

to

the following: RONALD

P.

WElL

, ESQ

.

rpw@weillaw.net;

F.

WALLACE POPE, JR., ESQ., wallyp@jpfinn.com; NATHAN M. BERMAN, ESQ., nberman@zuckerman.com, LEE FUGATE, ESQ

.

lfugate@zuckerman.com; MARIE TOMASSI, ESQ., mtomassi@trenam.com; MAMIE

V.

WISE, ESQ

.

mwise@zuckerman; and JACK

E.

FERNANDEZ., ESQ., jfemandez@zuckerman.com.

B BBITI

, JOHNSON, OSBORNE LeCLAINCHE, P A

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

1641

Worthington Road, Suite 1 00 P.O. Box 4426 West Palm Beach,

FL

33402-4426 (33409) (561) 684-2500 Fax: (561) 684-6308 Email: tedbabbitt@babbitt-johnson.com

Is

Theodore Babbitt Theodore Babbitt Florida Bar No.: 091146
