Letter to the Group President,
Discovery Communications

April 14, 2015

Henry Schleiff, Group President
Discovery Communications

Joely Fether, CEO
Raw TV Ltd.

Sir/Madam:

We have become aware that you have posted a clip from the piece in which Marty Rathbun and Claire Headley falsely allege that staff members of the Church were not free to leave the Church property.

The allegations are false.

You have received correspondence from our attorneys in the United Kingdom and the United States concerning Marty Rathbun’s record of deceit and dishonesty. Until this moment, we were unaware of Ms. Headley’s participation.

In 2009, Claire Headley and her husband Marc Headley filed federal civil cases in which they made the same claims that staff were not free to come and go. The findings of the court totally undermine the statement and inferences in this clip.

These allegations failed the test of truth when brought before a Federal Court. Far from working under “prison” conditions, Headley and his wife had free access to come and go as they pleased. Indeed, when Judge Fischer’s decision was upheld by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in Headley v. Church of Scientology International, et al. 687 F.3d 1173 (2012), the opinion stated:

Rather, the record overwhelmingly shows that the Headleys joined and voluntarily worked for the Sea Org because they believed that it was the right thing to do, because they enjoyed it, and because they thought that by working they were honoring the commitment that they each made and to which they adhered. We think it telling that the Headleys protest very little about their actual day-to-day jobs with the Sea Org—for Marc, film creation and production; for Claire, management and supervision.

This judicial finding undermines the claims contained in the clip you presently have online. For further information on the lack of veracity of the Headleys’ claims, see: http://www.freedommag.org/ hbo/videos/marc-headley.html.

Thus far, your record in both the United States and the United Kingdom of deliberately avoiding any facts from the Church flies in the face of your fundamental obligations of fairness and accuracy. As Discovery and Raw TV are acting in concert, we hold both companies equally accountable for this conduct, as has been made clear in the correspondence from our attorneys.

Regards,

Karin Pouw