Wyoming
Religious discrimination suit settled
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming company has settled a federal lawsuit by a former employee who claimed she was pressured to take Scientology courses as a condition of her employment.
Julie A. Rohrbacher filed the lawsuit in 2018 against Teton Therapy, which operates physical and occupational therapy offices in four Wyoming locations.
Rohrbacher claimed that owner Jeff McMenamy declined to promote her and then forced her to resign in 2013 after she refused to enroll in Church of Scientology courses.
She sued under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious harassment and discrimination at work.
The suit was settled on Jan. 2, and Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl dismissed the case, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Settlement terms weren't disclosed.
Teton Therapy owner Jeff McMenamy told the Star-Tribune on Monday that he used work training for business purposes and doesn't practice the religion.
Court documents state that Rohrbacher, who worked at an office in Lander, was told to study a training manual that included quotations by Hubbard.
Rohrbacher also was required to participate in training in which McMenamy and other participants yelled "derogatory remarks" at each other to try to prompt a reaction, the documents state.
Rohrbacher alleged in one court filing that she was offered a promotion only if she agreed to attend a Scientology-based training course at the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. She refused.
In December, Skavdahl dismissed one claim of religious harassment but allowed a claim of religious discrimination to proceed.
Virginia
Compensation bill would pay exonerated of '75 rape
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A man wrongly convicted of rape in northern Virginia more than four decades ago would receive almost $160,000 under legislation pending in the General Assembly.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the Virginia Supreme Court exonerated 63-year-old Winston Lamont Scott of Indiana last year. He always maintained his innocence.
Scott was 19 when the attack in Fairfax County happened and was convicted primarily on the victim's identification of him, both in a photo spread and again in court at his 1976 trial.
He was sentenced to 14 years and served about five before being paroled.
The Supreme Court ruled last March that in light of the new DNA evidence, "no rational trier of fact would have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Arkansas
Woman charged in former lawmaker's death faces new charges
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A woman charged with killing a former Arkansas state lawmaker faced new charges Tuesday alleging that she asked fellow inmates to kill the victim's ex-husband.
Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, who has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the killing of former state Sen. Linda Collins, was charged with two counts of criminal solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of criminal solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence.
Four inmates told State Police that O'Donnell had talked with them about killing Collins' ex-husband, Phil Smith, and arranging to have the death look like suicide, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday. O'Donnell also talked with inmates about blowing up her vehicle, which is being held at the Randolph County jail, "to destroy any evidence that may be in the vehicle," the affidavit states.
One inmate said O'Donnell "told her that Phil Smith needed to be killed and a 'suicide note' was to be left so the 'charges would be dropped off her,'" according to the affidavit. Three inmates said O'Donnell told them they could take a bag of gold and silver at Phil Smith's home as payment. Another inmate gave the investigator handwritten "suicide notes" she said O'Donnell had written, the affidavit said.
Two inmates said O'Donnell also sought the killing of the prosecutor who had been handling her case, while another said she wanted Smith's current wife killed to make it look like she was in the process of leaving Smith, according to the affidavit. That prosecutor unexpectedly recused himself from the case late last year. One inmate told investigators O'Donnell also wanted her to kill a judge who had initially presided over her case before recusing last summer.
Lee Short, O'Donnell's attorney, denied the claims and questioned whether the inmates were accusing his client in the hopes of striking deals in their own cases.
A hearing date had not been set yet for O'Donnell on the new charges.
Collins, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature, was found dead June 4 outside her home in Pocahontas, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock. She is scheduled to go to trial in October. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty.
Police have said Collins was stabbed to death and O'Donnell was captured on video removing security cameras inside the former lawmaker's home.
Utah
Sexual abuse lawsuit against Mormon church may be dropped
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A woman who accused The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of covering for a former missionary leader who she says raped her in the 1980s said Tuesday she may be ready to drop her lawsuit against the faith.
McKenna Denson said during a court hearing that she still doesn't have an attorney. Her previous lawyer, Craig Vernon, withdrew in May for unknown reasons, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Vernon's court motion is sealed and he has declined to discuss it publicly.
Denson asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead if she could refile the lawsuit if she found "illegal activity" occurred during the course of the litigation. Pead told Denson he could not give her legal advice, advising her those were questions for her attorney.
Pead gave Denson two weeks to make a decision. He said she needs to file a motion to dismiss the case, express interest in mediation or choose to go to trial.
Denson of Pueblo, Colorado, accused Phoenix-area resident Joseph L. Bishop of sexually abusing and raping her in 1984 at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, where he was president.
A judge previously dismissed part of Denson's lawsuit against the church because the statute of limitations had passed, but allowed a fraud claim to stand because the alleged cover-up was discovered recently.
Bishop denied the accusations but acknowledged in a police interview that he asked the woman to expose herself when she was 21, according to police documents.
Published: Thu, Jan 16, 2020
