Dental assistants say firing result of their rejection of Scientology

DATE: WEDNESDAY September 2, 1992 
PAGE:   D5     EDITION: 2 STAR 
SECTION: METRO                                 LENGTH: SHORT 
SOURCE: BY DAVID KNOX, Akron Beacon Journal staff writer DATE-LINE: CANTON 
DENTAL ASSISTANTS SAY FIRING RESULT OF THEIR REJECTION OF SCIENTOLOGY  
Two former assistants of a Canton dentist -- one a Catholic, the other
a Protestant -- charge they were wrongfully fired because of their religious
beliefs. 
The complaint was filed Monday in Stark County Common Pleas Court by
Janet E. Nieschwitz, 23, of Canton and Tamara M. Milhoan, 23, of Brewster. 
Named as defendants are Dr. Lyn V. Bates; the Streetsboro affiliate of
the California-based Church of Scientology; and Dave Nagoda, an official of
the Sterling Management Division of the Church of Scientology in Streetsboro.
Bates could not be reached to comment. 
Both women worked as orthodontic assistants at Bates' Cleveland Street
office until they were fired in August 1990, along with a third employee,
Philesia A. Weiner, 25, a receptionist. 
The suit identified Nieschwitz as a Roman Catholic, Milhoan as a 
Baptist and Weiner as a Jew. 
The suit charges that the three women 'were continually, against their
will, subjected to religious recruitment, proselytizing and brainwashing by
defendants in fervent attempts to convert them to the Scientology cult. ' 
The defendants also 'repeatedly disparaged and interfered with the free
exercise of the religious beliefs' of the women and 'failed or refused to
make reasonable accommodations for such religious beliefs and faiths,'
according to the suit. 
The suit asks for unspecified damages for lost pay and benefits and
compensatory damages for emotional anguish and damage to reputation. The suit
also requests punitive damages, charging the actions against the women were a
deliberate deprivation of their rights under Ohio's civil rights statutes. 
The Church of Scientology was founded in the United States in 1954 by
author L. Ron Hubbard. 
The case was assigned to Judge John G. Haas. njs 
KEYWORDS: JOB DISCRIMINATION / DAMAGE ACTION / CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY  / 
BIOGRAPHY / DR. LYN V BATES / DAVE NAGODA 

Sterling Management Systems & Scientology

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