Here is an interesting little piece from:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/1455/scientology_recruitment_in_the_workplace/pj990121.txt Do any of the ex-$cis here know who Dr. Carlsten is, and what he is up to now?

********** Providence Journal -- http://www.projo.com/ 21 January 1999
Ex-receptionist testifies about Scientology fear Susan E. Morgan claims her former employer, Dr. Roger N. Carlsten, fired her for refusing to take a ``statistics`` course she says contained Scientology material.

By KAREN LEE ZINER Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE -- References to ``the God dynamic'' and ``the Supreme being'' in course materials dentist Roger N. Carlsten described as ``statistics'' so disturbed his former receptionist, Susan E.

Morgan, that she repeatedly declined to take the course, she testified yesterday.

Morgan, who is suing Carlsten for employment discrimination based on religion, said she believed such terms within the ``Hubbard Administrative Technology'' course ``were all about Scientology,'' a religion that she, as a Catholic, does not believe in.

In fact, Morgan said, she suspected Carlsten and consultants he hired from a company known as Precision Management were trying to use the course to eventually sway her ``to join the [Scientology] organization.'' ``That was my greatest fear,'' said Morgan, ``that there would be pressure to lure me into it.'' Morgan said she based this fear on the fact that Carlsten, a Scientologist, kept Scientology books in his office with ``some of the same references'' as in the course materials.

Also, she said a 1991 Time magazine article she read told of ``thinly disguised front-companies'' allegedly used by the Church of Scientology ``that specifically targeted dentists and veterinarians to hook them'' into the church.

Morgan, the first witness called by her lawyer, Renee J. Bushey, spent all day on the stand as the civil trial against Carlsten continued before Superior Court Judge Alice K. Gibney and a jury of six and two alternates.

Morgan alleges Carlsten fired her in January 1992, because she ultimately refused to take a Hubbard Administrative Technology ' course written by the late L. Ron Hubbard, a science-fiction writer and founder of the Church of Scientology International.

The suit alleges Carlsten violated the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act. On Monday, Judge Gibney ruled out the potential for punitive damages; Morgan is making a claim for $9,600 in lost wages and roughly $1,500 in medical bills she said she paid before finding a new job.

Carlsten will testify he fired Morgan because of poor job performance, said his lawyer, Sandra A. Lanni, in her opening argument Monday.

During cross-examination yesterday, Lanni suggested Morgan was lying about the real reason Carlsten fired her from her job answering phones, billing and filing at his Lloyd Avenue dental practice.

``Isn't it true that you're embarrassed about the circumstances and that's why you made up that [Carlsten] `wanted someone who could be everything he wanted them to be, including taking the course'?'' asked Lanni, quoting from Morgan's earlier testimony.

``No. Not at all,'' said Morgan. ``Why would I tell him I didn't think it was legal?'' she said, recounting that direct testimony.

During much of the morning, Morgan read aloud from portions of the course materials that she said she found disturbing because she believed that they were part of the Scientology belief system, and ``I don't know what they had to do with business.'' Those included glossary terms on the ``sixth, seventh and eighth dynamics,'' contained in a course pack for ``How to Increase Productivity by Managing Personnel on Statistics,'' as well as references to communism.

``The eighth dynamic -- is the urge toward existence as infinity,'' Morgan read aloud from the text. ``This is also identified as the Supreme Being. This is called the eighth dynamic because the symbol of infinity stood upright makes the numeral 8. This can be called the infinity or God dynamic.'' On cross-examination, Lanni asked, ``Can you tell the court what specific Catholic beliefs'' such terminology violates?

``I believe these to be Scientology practices, and Scientology practices by themselves violate Catholicism,'' Morgan said. She said she didn't believe she ``should be subjected to them'' in the workplace.

Morgan testified that Carlsten pressured her ``in a continuous process'' for 10 months -- requesting at least a dozen times -- that she take the Hubbard Administrative Technology course -- and made it a contingency of a promotion to office assistant.

From October 1991, when she ultimately refused to take the course, until he terminated her in January 1992, no one mentioned the course again, she said.

On the day of her firing, she said Carlsten told her, ``I need someone who will embrace this philosophy and put it into practice.'' When she replied, ``I don't think that's legal,'' Morgan testified, ``he said, `That's of no consequence to him.' '' ``Did he mention your work performance?'' at the time he fired her, asked Bushey.

``No,'' Morgan replied.

Copyright 1999 The Providence Journal Company Produced by www.projo.com

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