Landmark Forum suffers crushing cult defeat. Rick Ross wins
Anonymous
Message: Congratulations to Rick Ross!
Here's the article posted on Rick's site. There are links to other
interesting articles within it, so check it out there. You may need to
find it in the archives by date.
http://www.cultnews.com/
Landmark Education suffers humiliating legal defeat in New Jersey
Federal Court
Landmark Education suffered perhaps its most humiliating legal defeat
to date this week. A federal judge in New Jersey granted the
controversial seminar-selling company's motion to dismiss its own
lawsuit filed in 2004 against one of its most visible critics, the Ross
Institute of New Jersey (RI) sponsor of CultNews.
On December 21, 2005 Landmark Education announced its defeat publicly,
though news about its legal meltdown was already being reported in the
press.
The private for-profit company tried to spin its defeat into a
strategic retreat.
Landmark stated in a press release that the motion to dismiss its own
lawsuit was somehow due to a recent ruling by a New Jersey state court,
claiming that this ruling "impacted Landmark Education's claims
against" RI making it "no longer feasible" to continue.
Landmark's General Counsel Art Schreiber, as is his practice, once
again was hiding the truth.
The ruling that Schreiber referred to actually "impacted" only a very
small part of Landmark's lawsuit regarding the RI message board.
An interesting twist in Landmark's lawsuit was to assert the
preposterous theory that the anonymous posts at the message board were
actually all written by me through various contrived identities.
Through that ploy, Landmark hoped to discover the identities of those
posting anonymously at the message board about its programs.
Lowenstein Sandler, a large and prestigious law firm representing RI
pro bono, opposed that attempt vigorously and successfully.
It doesn't take much imagination to guess what Landmark intended if it
succeeded in obtaining the names of anonymous message board
participants, despite its press release that proclaims the lawsuit
supposedly "was not about stifling freedom of speech; we stand for
people's self-expression."
It appears that "self-expression" to Landmark doesn't include
expressing criticism about its practices.
Landmark's recent press release contained many distortions of the
truth. In the near future, CultNews will have more to report about
Landmark's lawsuit and will offer a detailed review of why they really
dropped it, which will include supporting documents, soon to be
archived within the RI database.
Lowenstein Sandler's attorneys led by Peter Skolnik uncovered a great
deal of information about Landmark through its successful defense and
CultNews will make that information available to the public.
The real reason Landmark dropped its lawsuit apparently was to avoid
facing further discovery.
Landmark was thwarted in its effort to keep information revealed
through discovery "confidential." This meant that whatever information
and material was disclosed or found through the lawsuit would be open
to public scrutiny.
In its press release Landmark once again made a "straw man" argument
about critics calling it a "cult."
CultNews and RI have never called Landmark a "cult," nor did the
now deceased acclaimed cult expert and clinical psychologist Margaret
Singer.
Landmark attempted to defile the dead doctor by resurrecting her as its
unlikely defender, selectively quoting a statement she once made as a
part of a legal settlement after they harassed her through a lawsuit.
While Singer never called Landmark a "cult," she did call its owners
and operatives "SOBs" and stated, "I do not endorse them -- never
have."
The elderly psychologist and emeritus professor of UC Berkeley opted
for a "settlement" rather than go forward with the seemingly endless
and expensive litigation Landmark had launched against her.
But the statement she made represented no change in Singer's position
about the company or its seminars, which the psychologist dubbed "large
group awareness training" (LGAT).
LGATs like Landmark have a deeply troubled history of complaints, bad
press, personal injury claims and even links to murders and suicide.
Two Landmark participants have been linked to murders that some have
speculated were caused in part by their seminar involvement, one in
Minnesota and another in Oklahoma. And Landmark paid a substantial
settlement rather than go to court with a woman raped and beaten by one
of its staff in Dallas.
News reports that contain such critical information remain archived
within the RI database and Landmark understandably doesn't want this
information so easily accessed through the Internet.
Also archived are press reports about the controversial -- some would
say notorious -- Werner Erhard, a former used car salesman who
supposedly invented Landmark's "technology." Erhard, whose given name
is Jack Rosenberg, is the founder of Landmark's forerunner EST (Erhard
Seminars Training).
Erhard reportedly sold EST after scandal erupted about him in the press
and on national television. His brother Harry Rosenberg now runs the
company, which was renamed Landmark Education. They like changing names
in that family.
Landmark doesn't like being linked to EST even though it largely
lionizes Erhard with rather "cult-like" devotion.
Landmark's legal defeat must be both personally and professionally
painful for its General Counsel and legal strategist Art Schreiber.
Perhaps that's why he attempted to bend the truth a bit within his
press release.
For example Schreiber says, "At no time has Mr. Ross been willing... to
take The Landmark Forum."
That is a false statement.
I repeatedly agreed to take the weekend seminar course Landmark
presents called the Forum.
However, under no circumstances would I agree to sign paperwork waiving
the right to a trial by jury in the event of any personal injury, even
though such a waiver is required from every Landmark course
participant.
Landmark decided not to follow-up after that.
Landmark hoped through its lawsuit to coerce concessions from RI.
However, Landmark received no concessions whatsoever, regarding the
material archived at the RI database, adding additional material
suggested by Landmark or somehow changing the format or entries at the
message board.
And all settlement offers made by Landmark to RI were rejected.
Therefore, Landmark had no choice but to go forward and face further
unsealed discovery or give up their lawsuit.
Landmark chose to give up and packed it in through a motion to dismiss
its lawsuit with prejudice, which means it cannot be filed again.
And so as T.S. Eliot once remarked "it ends not with bang, but a
whimper."
And in memory of Landmark's past critics who endured its threats to sue
and/or frivolous litigation this may provide some long overdue and
meaningful closure.
Margaret Singer, who spent most of her professional life dedicated to
helping cult victims endured Landmark's harassment, deserves that.
--------------------------
Here is the first part of Landmark's "spin" press release:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051221/nyw149.html?.v=36
Landmark Education Withdraws Lawsuit Against Rick Ross as a Result of
Recent Court Decision
Wednesday December 21, 5:36 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Landmark Education, an
international training and development company, has withdrawn its
lawsuit initiated in New Jersey against Rick Ross containing a number
of claims regarding his statements and actions that have unfairly
damaged their business and relationships with customers and prospective
customers. Landmark Education's legal counsel withdrew the lawsuit as
the result of a recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Court,
which decision impacted Landmark Education's claims against Ross. In
light of this unforeseen development, Landmark Education determined
that it was no longer feasible to pursue the claims against Ross and,
based on this, the New Jersey court granted Landmark Education's motion
to dismiss the case.
Eldon
Borked Pseudo Mailed
ritte...@yahoo.com
This story is old news.
Did you just get out of prison or something?
Maybe you just haven't been reading the gossip columns lately.