A California appeals court on Tuesday considered whether a harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology should be decided by a jury or an arbitration board of Scientologists.
The case was brought by women who said they were stalked and harassed after they complained to police that they had been raped by actor Danny Masterson, a Scientologist who has been criminally charged. Masterson, who starred in the hit sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” faces charges of raping three women between 2001 and 2003. A criminal trial is pending.
Four women and the husband of one of them also sued the church and Masterson, charging they were terrorized, stalked and harassed in an effort to intimidate them after reporting the alleged sexual assaults.
They accused the church of hiring private investigators to surveil, follow, video and photograph them, tapping their phones, hacking their email accounts and home security systems, and even killing a dog. The church has denied any harassment.
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