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IN THE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
S. PREMKA KAUR KHALSA,
Plaintiff,
vs.
HARBHAJAN SINGH KHALSA YOGIJI, a/k/a
Harbhajan Puri, a/k/a/ Yogi Bhajan, a/k/a/ Sin
Singh Sahib, Individually, and In His Capacity
as the Sole Officer and Director of the Sin Singh
Sahib of Sikh Dharma Brotherhood, a California
Corporation, and in his Capacity as an Officer
of the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood, a California Corporation,
and in this capacity as an officer and director
of the 3H0 Foundation, a California Corporation,
and the '3HO Foundation of New Mexico, a New Mexico
Corporation; and
SIRI SINGH SAHIB OF SIKH DHARMA
BROTHERHOOD, a California
Corporation; and
SIKH DHARMA BROTHERHOOD, a
California Corporation; and
3H0 FOUNDATION, a California
Corporation Licensed to do
Business in New Mexico;
and
Civil Action No. 86--0838 M SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT
(For Fraud and Deceit;
Assault and Battery; False
Arrest and Imprisonment;
Intentional Infliction of
Severe Emotional Distress;
Violation of the Fair
Labor Standards Act; and
Invasion of Privacy.)
3H0 FOUNDATION OF NEW MEXICO, a
New Mexico Corporation.
Defendants.
Parties
Before the Court
Plaintiff, S. Premka Kaur Khalsa, is a adult citizen
of the State of Hawaii.
Defendant Harbhajan Singh Khalsa
Yogiji, formerly known as Harbhajan Puri, and
also known as Yogi Bhajan and. Siri Singh Sahib,
(hereinafter Bhajan), is an adult citizen of the
State of California, with his principal residence
at 1620 Preuss Road, Los Angeles, California 90035.
Defendant Sin Singh Sahib of Sikh
Dharma Brotherhood is a corporation organized
and doing business under the laws of the State
of California, with its principal place of business
located at 1649 Robertson Building, Los Angeles,
California 90035. This corporation is of a unique
type, known under California law as a corporation
sole. (Hereinafter this corporation shall be referred
to as the corporation sole.)
Defendant 3H0 Foundation is a corporation
organized and doing business under the laws of
the State of California, and doing business in
the State of New Mexico under a Certificate of
Authority issued by the New Mexico State Corporation
Commission. The principal place of business of
the 3H0 Foundation is located at 1649 Robertson
Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90035. 3H0
is an acronym for Healthy--Happy--Holy Organization.
Defendant Sikh Dharma Brotherhood
is a corporation organized and doing business
under the laws of the State of California, with
its principal place of business located at 1649
Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
(To avoid confusion with a religious order in
India called the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood, this
corporate entity shall hereinafter be referred
to as the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood Corporation.)
Defendant 3H0 Foundation of New
Mexico is an affiliate of defendant 3H0 Foundation,
and is a corporation organized and doing business
under the laws of the State of New Mexico. The
principal place of business of defendant 3H0 Foundation
of New Mexico is Route 1, Box ].32--D, Espanola,
New Mexico 87532.
Jurisdiction
of this Court
There is complete diversity of citizenship between
the plaintiff and all of the defendants in this
case, and the sum in controversy- exceeds. $10,000.00
excluding interest and costs. Jurisdiction is
therefore vested in this Count pursuant to 28
U.S.C. S1332(a).
Count V -of this Complaint arises
under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938, as amended (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. S201, et seq.
Jurisdiction to hear this case is therefore vested
in this Court pursuant to 29 U.S.C. S2].6(b) and
28 U.S.C. S1331(a).
Each of the corporate defendants
named in this case owns property and/or does business
within the District of New Mexico, and each of
the individual defendants named in this case resides
within the District of New Mexico either full--time
on part--time. Venue is therefore properly laid
in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. S1391(b).
In addition, the causes of action
asserted in this Complaint arose primarily in
the District of New Mexico. Venue is therefore
properly laid in this District pursuant to 28
U.S.C. 1391(b).
Facts
That Give Rise to this Complaint
In the latter part of 1968, defendant Bhajan entered
the United States from Canada. Upon information
and belief, it was his intent at that time to
accumulate wealth and acquire power and influence
by posing as a Yoga master and religious leader,
and attracting donations of money, property and
labor from those he could induce to follow him.
The method by which Bhajan induced
others to follow him was to pose as a Yoga master
and teacher, and then covertly subject yoga students
to a process of mental and emotional conditioning
in which their personalities are disrupted and
ultimately destroyed, and then are supplanted
with a reformed personality (reformed in this
context having its most literal meaning of making
over or forming again). This reformed personality
is, by design, intellectually, emotionally and
ideologically committed exclusively to Bhajan
and the service of Bhajan. Once a follower is
in this condition, he or she becomes part of Bhajan's
cult following, and is invariably exploited by
Bhajan for whatever Bhajan can get out of the,
follower, be that money, property, sex, labor,
administrative or business skill or assistance,
or social or political contacts, prestige or credibility.
This process is, by design, carried out without
the knowledge on understanding of the inductee,
and was carried out upon the plaintiff in this
case.
In order to facilitate the expansion,
operation and maintenance of his cult, Bhajan
has created and operated a number of corporations
and associations, including but not limited to
the corporate defendants named in this case. These
corporations and associations are used, inter
alia, as devices through which he has intentionally
misrepresented his personal history and background,
his education, training, abilities, goals and
objectives, as well as the nature, objectives,
history and purposes of the various corporations
and other associations. This misrepresentation
is necessary in order for Bhajan to attract new
followers, maintain the loyalty of the followers
he already has, obtain the money, property, sex,
labor and other assistance he extracts from his
followers, as well as to conceal the true nature,
objectives and operations of his organization
from those outside the organization.
In 1973 Bhajan caused the incorporation
of the defendant Sikh Dharma Brotherhood Corporation
to occur. This corporation was organized for the
ostensible purpose of teaching the principles
of the Sikh Dharma, or way of life, in the Western
Hemisphere. In truth and in fact, defendant Sikh
Dharma Brotherhood Corporation was and is used
as a vehicle through which Bhajan operates his
cult. The Sikh Dharma Brotherhood corporation
was and is totally controlled in every respect
by Bhajan directly, and is used in every respect
for Bhajan's own, personal benefit. The Sikh Dharma
Brotherhood Corporation was, and always has been,
so dominated and controlled by Bhajan that it
neither had nor has any independent personality
or existence of its own.
At the time of the incorporation
of the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood corporation, and
at all times material to this Complaint, defendant
Bhajan was an officer and Director the Sikh Dharma
Brotherhood Corporation, bearing the title Sin
Singh Sahib.
In 1975, Bhajan caused the incorporation
of defendant Sin Singh Sahib of the Sikh Dharma
Brotherhood as a corporation sole pursuant to
the California Corporations Code Sl0,000, et.
seq., for the ostensible purpose of managing the
affairs, property and temporalities of the Sikh
Dharma Brotherhood. In truth and in fact the corporation
sole was and is used as a vehicle through which
Bhajan shelters personal property and wealth from
state and federal taxation and his lawful creditors.
The corporation sole is totally controlled in
every respect by Bhajan directly, and is used
in every respect for his own, personal benefit.
The corporation sole was, and always has been,
so dominated and controlled by Bhajan's personal
interests that it has no independent personality
or existence of its own.
Bhajan is and has always been the
only officer or Director of the corporation sole.
The corporation sole has no shareholders.
All of the acts of any of the defendants
described in this Complaint were carried out using
the resources, facilities, and personnel of the
corporate defendants, with the full knowledge
and approval of all corporate officers and directors,
as part of and pursuant to an established and
ongoing corporate policy of carrying out the commands
and directives of Bhajan, no matter what those
demands and directive may be. Each of the corporate
defendants is associated in fact with each of
the other corporate defendants, under the common
control of Bhajan, and with the common purpose
and objective of carrying out Bhajan's wishes,
including but not limited to the tortious conduct
set forth below.
COUNT
I: FOR FRAUD AND DECEIT
As a complete and independent cause of action
the plaintiff hereby asserts this count against
each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 3. through 18, above, are hereby
incorporated into this Count by reference.
During the latter part of 1968,
plaintiff was having medical problems with her
lower back, and was experiencing lower back pain
regularly. She had previously practiced yoga,
and was advised that yoga might help the problem.
Plaintiff learned that Bhajan was
teaching yoga and contacted him to arrange for
yoga classes. That contact was followed by a personal
interview between Bhajan and the plaintiff in
early December 1968.
At the interview, Bhajan asked the
plaintiff a number of questions about the plaintiff
and what was then transpiring in the plaintiff's
life. The plaintiff reported that she had been
recently divorced, and that she wanted to take
a trip through Europe in early 1969. The plaintiff
explained about her lower back pain, and in addition
indicated she was searching for spiritual fulfillment.
Yogi Bhajan then made a number of
false promises and misrepresentations of fact
to the plaintiff in order to induce her to enroll
in his yoga course, and later to induce hen to
follow him as a spiritual teacher. Among the misrepresentations
of fact which he made at their initial meeting
were: (a) That if plaintiff enrolled in his yoga
classes he would be able to teach her to be a
yoga teacher in two months' time. (b) That as
a yoga teacher, she would be able to tour Europe
and stay at various ashrams throughout Europe.
(c) That he would personally oversee the plaintiff's
education and personally instruct her in Yoga
if she became his follower. (d) That if the plaintiff
studied under him, served him and agreed to stay
with him, Bhajan would provide for all of the
plaintiff's material needs for life. (e) That
he was a high master of yoga, who had studied
many years under various masters of yoga in India,
was a skilled teacher of and was particularly
skilled in the form of yoga called Kundalini yoga.
All of the foregoing representations
were false, and Bhajan knew them to be false at
the time he made them. They were made only for
the purpose of inducing the plaintiff to enroll
in Bhajan's yoga course, as a means by which he
could covertly subject the plaintiff to the thought
reform program described above.
In reliance upon the foregoing misrepresentations,
the plaintiff enrolled in and paid for her initial
yoga lessons with Bhajan, including both group
lessons and private instruction. Also in reliance
upon these misrepresentations, the plaintiff reposed
great trust and confident in Bhajan, and placed
greater reliance upon what he told her in the
course of the yoga lessons. The plaintiff took
those lessons in the latter part of December 1968,
and January 1969.
During the time she was taking the
purported yoga lessons, Bhajan, and other followers
of Bhajan at Bhajan's direction, made a great
number of additional misrepresentations of fact
to the plaintiff, and omitted and concealed material
facts from the plaintiff. These misrepresentations
included all of the misrepresentations set forth
in paragraph 24, above. In addition, these material
misrepresentations and material omissions included:
(a) Failure to disclose that Bhajan was sexually
involved with female members of his following.
(b) Falsely representing that Bhajan had always
been faithful to his wife, and had been celibate
for years prior to first meeting the plaintiff.
(c) That women who became part of his following
were treated with special deference, when in truth
they are relegated to inferior roles and act essentially
as servants to the men in the organization. (d)
That Bhajan had over 250,000 followers. In truth
Bhajan had never had in excess of a few thousand
followers. (e) That he had washed the floors of
the Golden Temple at Amritsar, India, for four
years in order to purify himself, when in fact
he had never done so. (f) That plaintiff was Bhajan's
beloved~ (the translation of the spiritual name
given to the plaintiff by Bhajan), and his spiritual
wife, destined to serve mankind by serving him
in a conjugal capacity; and if she would do so,
Bhajan would care for her for all of her natural
life. (g) That he, Bhajan, had numerous wealthy
followers who would similarly take care of the
plaintiff, financially and materially, in the
event anything would happen to Bhajan. (h) That
he was a representative and teacher of the Sikh
religion, as that religion has been practiced
by observant Sikhs in India for hundreds of years.
The misrepresentations described
in the next preceding paragraph were made for
the purpose of inducing the plaintiff to join
Bhajan's cult following, as part of the thought
reform process to which the plaintiff was being
subjected. The plaintiff relied upon those misrepresentations
in enrolling in additional yoga courses, paying
for those courses, and devoting all of her free
time to running errands and acting as a general
secretary to Bhajan.
As part of the thought reform process
the plaintiff was subjected to, and continuing
as a means of maintaining and reinforcing the
effects of that process after the initial thought
reform process was affected, Bhajan routinely
prescribed numerous bizarre and unhealthful fasts
and diets for the plaintiff. These fasts and diets
were prescribed for the ostensible purpose of
curing various physical, psychological or emotional
ailments, real or imagined, upon the false representation
that Bhajan was specially trained, as well as
divinely inspired, to diagnose physical ills and
ailments.
Similarly, Bhajan also prescribed
a regimen of work, fasting, chanting, debilitating
yoga exercises, and reading and listening to lectures
by Bhajan, as well as long hours of prayer and
repetition of his name, as a means of limiting
the plaintiff's sleep and depriving her of time
to contemplate and reflect upon her circumstances.
Through this regulation and regimen,
the plaintiff was kept isolated from former friends,
family and outside influences, and was rendered
physically and psychologically debilitated and
unable to exercise normal judgment or self-- protective
care. While the plaintiff was kept in this vulnerable
state, the defendants constantly made and repeated
material misrepresentations of fact and material
omissions pertaining to Bhajan and his organizations,
including but not limited to all of the misrepresentations
set forth above. These misrepresentations were
repeated by Bhajan, and the other defendants at
the direction of Bhajan, so frequently that the
number of times they were repeated cannot be exhaustively
listed. These misrepresentations were institutionalized
by the defendants, woven into the personal and
family lives of all members of Bhajan's group,
and were repeated to the plaintiff on a virtually
daily basis during the entire time the plaintiff
was with Bhajan as a member of his group. These
times included, but were not limited to, the entire
time between January 1969 and May 1985.
Examples of the misrepresentations
made to the plaintiff as part of this ongoing
routine pertained to Bhajan's purported status
as a teacher, representative and leader of the
Sikh religion of India. These misrepresentations
and omissions were made on virtually a daily basis,
both orally and in articles, brochures and other
promotional materials produced by the defendants.
They were made to reinforce the thought reform
process and induce the plaintiff to continue to
serve Bhajan, and in fact had that effect. Specific
examples of these' * misrepresentations include:
(a) That Bhajan was livings three lives in one,
and that the demands upon his spirit in living
these three lives made it necessary that he be
constantly attended, that he be give sex upon
demand, and that he other wise have all of his
physical and emotional needs fulfilled instantly
by his followers, including the plaintiff. (b)
That Bhajan was gifted with miraculous powers,
including the power to read an individual's future,
see one's destiny, and, through the exercise of
his own powers, alter that destiny. Bhajan further
advised the plaintiff that her own destiny was
to become a physical cripple, lose her mind, and
live out her life in a mental institution, and
the only way she could avoid this fate was to
adhere to his commands and teachings, and remain
close to him. (c) That the plaintiff was destined
to be Bhajan's spiritual wife, and to serve mankind
by serving Bhajan in a conjugal capacity, and
that if she would do so Bhajan would protect and
care for her material needs for the rest of her
nature life. (d) That he was an avatar, which
means a reincarnation of God. Bhajan has never
believed this of himself. (e) That the form of
religious practice observed by Bhajan's followers
was ancient in origin, and was followed worldwide
by those professing to be Sikhs, including the
Sikhs of India. In truth, Bhajan well knew the
religious beliefs and practices espoused by Bhajan
are not of ancient origin, are only superficially
based upon the Sikh religion as it was practiced
prior to the founding of Bhajan's organizations,
and are very different from or contrary to the
Sikh religion as it was practiced in India prior
to the founding of Bhajan's organizations. (f)
From 1971 onward Bhajan represented he was appointed
by the governing body of the Sikh religion at
Amristar, India (the Shiromani Gurdware Parbandhak
Committee) as the Siri Singh Sahib, and that this
title and office were those of the chief religious
leader of the Sikhs in the Western Hemisphere.
In truth and in fact, Bhajan never did receive
any such appointment, and indeed there is no body
within the Sikh religion which as the power to
make such an appointment, nor is there any such
office within the Sikh religion as it is known
and practiced in India. Moreover, the title Siri
Singh Sahib is not a title of religious significance
to the Sikhs of India, and is nothing more than
a respectful mode of address used by one Sikh
when addressing another. (g) That he had studied
the Sikh religion in India under a Saint of that
religion for years before coming to the United
States, and that as a result of his long study
he was schooled in the ways of the Sikh religion.
In truth and in fact Bhajan had not made any such
study, could neither read nor write the language
in which the teachings and scriptures of the Sikh
religion are written (Punjabi), and in fact at
least until he came to the United States he had
never even read them.
At no time material to this Complaint
has Bhajan entertained a sincere belief in the
religion he espouses to his followers, or to the
Sikh religion as it was practiced prior to the
founding of Bhajan's organizations. Nor has Bhajan
ever personally acted in accordance with the teachings,
tenets or practices of the religion he espouses
to his followers, or of the Sikh religion as it
was practiced prior to the founding of Bhajan's
organizations. Rather, Bhajan's professed religious
beliefs and objectives are espoused by him in
bad faith, for the purpose of bolstering his credibility
with the public and potential recruits, obtaining
favorable tax treatment from the government of
the United States and various states, concealing
the covert manipulation he engages in to effect
the thought reform process to which the plaintiff
in this case was subjected, and justifying to
his followers some of the arbitrary, cruel, bizarre
and exploitive actions he takes with respect to
some of his followers.
Examples of the misrepresentations
made to the plaintiff as part of the ongoing routine
of members of Bhajan's organization pertained
to Bhajan's background and qualifications as a
yoga master and teacher. These misrepresentations
were also made on a virtually daily basis, both
orally and in articles, brochures and other promotional
materials produced by the defendants. They were
made to reinforce the thought reform process and
induce the plaintiff to continue to serve Bhajan,
and in fact had that effect. Specific examples
of these misrepresentations include: (a) That
he had studied 22 years with a famous yogi in
India named Drindra Brahmachari, when in fact
he had studied with Drindra Brahmachari only a
few days. (b) That the forms of yoga which Bhajan
taught were ancient forms of Kundalini and Tantric
yoga, when in fact they were a collection of exercises
put together by Bhajan, sometimes literally made
up on the spot by Bhajan as a yoga class progressed.
(c) That the forms of yoga Bhajan taught had physically
curative and beneficial properties which they
did not and do not in fact have, and which Bhajan
knew full well they did not and do not have. (d)
That the forms of yoga which Bhajan taught had
spiritual properties which they did not and do
not in fact have, and which Bhajan knew full well
they did not and do not have. (e) That he was
recognized in India as a master of Kundalini yoga
at age l6~, when in fact he had not achieved such
recognition. (f) Beginning in 1973, that Bhajan
was bestowed with unique skills and knowledge
by a yoga teacher known as the Mahan Tantric,
who had selected Bhajan to be his successor and
who bestowed the title of Mahan Tantric upon Bhajan
when the former Mahan Tantric died. In truth Bhajan
did not study under the Mahan Tantric, nor was
he ever vested with any such title by anyone previously
holding the title.(g) That forms of yoga which
Bhajan told the plaintiff to perform were designed
to benefit the plaintiff in various physical and
emotional ways, when in fact they were designed
to mentally debilitate the plaintiff and place
her in a state of extreme suggestibility, which
state was then exploited by Bhajan and his followers
as part of the thought reform process the plaintiff
was subjected to. (h) That special diets prescribed
for the plaintiff would have curative and beneficial
effects upon~ the plaintiff's health, when in
fact Bhajan knew they would not. In truth the
special diets prescribed by Bhajan were designed
to mentally debilitate the plaintiff and place
her in a state of extreme suggestibility, which
state was then exploited by Bhajan and his followers
as part of the though reform process the plaintiff
was subjected to.
Specific examples of the times and
places these ongoing misrepresentations were made,
and the particular defendant making them, include:
(a) In a pamphlet entitled Sikh Dharma: Another
Way to Live, Another Way to God, published throughout
the period from late 1972 through 1984 by defendant
Sikh Dharma corporation at the instruction of
Bhajan, all of the misrepresentations set forth
in paragraphs 26(e), (g) and (h), and 34, above
are repeated. (b) At gatherings of the group in
Espanola, New Mexico on and around the twenty--first
of June, and in Florida on and around the twenty--third
of December, for each year from 1973 through and
including 1985, all of the misrepresentations
set forth in paragraphs 26(e), (f) and (g), 34
and 36, above, were repeated by Bhajan personally,
as well as by the other defendants in this case.
(c) Specific misrepresentations as. to Bhajan's
appointment as the Sin Singh Sahib, set forth
above, were made in the following publications,
among others: (i) The Sin Singh Sahib, Beads of
Truth, Bead No. 36 (1977) at pages 36--38; (ii)
Time Will Tell, Beads of Truth, Bead No. 36 (1977)
at pages 39--41; (iii) Address of M.S.S. Guru
Terath Singh Khalsa to Khalsa Council, Los Angeles,
California, April 17, 1979 as reprinted in Beads
of Truth, Bead No. 3, Vol. II (Fall, Sept. 1979)
at page 36: (iv) Sikh Darma: Another Way to Live,
Another Way to God, authored by S.S. Gurubanda
Singh Khalsa, Beads of Truth, Beads No. 1 and
2, Vol. II (Apr. 1, 1979) at page 71;(v) The Man
Called the Siri Singh Sahib, (produced and published
by 3H0 Foundation and Sikh Dharma Corporation)
(1979) at pages 15, 38, 60, 78, 86, 118, 123,
125--126 and 132; (vi) Sikh Dharma: Past, Present
and Future, by Mukhia Sadarni Shakti, Parwha Kaur,
Sikh Dharma Brotherhood (Winter, 1975) at page
4. (d) Specific misrepresentations as to Bhajan's
study of Kundalini and Tantric yoga, and his title
as Mahan Tantric, set forth above, were made in,
among others, the following publications: (1)
The Sin Singh Sahib, Beads of Truth, Bead No.
36 (1977) at pages 36--38; (ii) Time Will Tell,
Beads of Truth, Bead No. 36 (1977) pages 39--41;
(iii) 3H0's Summer Solstice, by Alan Tobey, Beads
of Truth, No.'s 1 and 2, Vol. II (April 1979)
at page 15; (iv) The Man Called The Siri Singh
Sahib, supra, at pages 25--26, 35--36, 120, 141,
154--155 and 157;(v) Kundalini Yoga, S. S. Gurudain
Singh Khalsa, Beads of Truth, Bead No. 3 (Winter,
March 1978) pages 2--4. (e) Specific misrepresentations
that Bhajan had over 250,000 followers, set forth
above, were made in, among others, the following
publications: (i) The Man Called The Sin Singh
Sahib, at pages 40 and 286; (ii) The Voice of
Prophecy, Bead No. 14, Vol. II (Winter 1984) pages
5--10. Beads of Truth, (f) Specific misrepresentations
as to Bhajan's washing the marble floors of the
temple at Amritsar, India every day for four years
were made in, among others, the following publications:
(i) Guru Guru Wahe Guru Guru Ram Das Guru, Sikh
Dharma, Vol. III, No. 4 (Winter 1978) pages 8--9;
(ii) The Man Called The Siri Singh Sahib, supra
at pages 36 and 117
In The Man Called The Siri Singh
Sahib, supra, Bhajan makes and publishes a number
of misrepresentations concerning his education,
qualifications, background and teachings. Among
those fraudulent misrepresentations, are the following:
(a) That Bhajan has authored nine (9) books, as
well as lectures and articles (p.4). In truth
and in fact, the books, articles and lectures
have been authored by employees of the defendant
corporations. (b) That Bhajan has given himself
to the service of God and guru (p.10). In truth
and in fact, Bhajan has no good faith belief that
he is serving God or guru, but rather is devoted
to serving himself by obtaining his followers'
money, talents and sexual services. (c) That Bhajan's
family was wealthy and the family's combined land
holdings included the entire village in India
where Bhajan was born (pp.19 and 35). (d) That
Bhajan's birthday was a festive occasion in the
*town of his birth, and that baby Bhajan's weight
in gold, silver and copper coins and wheat was
distributed to the poor of the village (p.19).
(e) That Bhajan was the only male child at the
girls' convent school in his village, and that
he frequently unnerved the Mother Superior with
his profound and unanswerable questions (p.19).
(f) That Bhajan graduated with honors from Punjab
University with a B.A. in Economics and a Masters
equivalent in 1950 (p.26). (g) That Bhajan single--handedly
led his family and entire village, as well as
many people from surrounding villages, to safety
when the partition of India and Pakistan occurred
in 1947, saving them from roving bands of murderous
Muslim bandits (pp.26--27). (h) That Bhajan was
president of the Student Union at Camp College
in Delhi, India (p.35). (i) That Bhajan organized
the Sikh Student Federation in Delhi, India (p.35).
That Bhajan established the Khalsa Council as
the chief administrative body for the Sikh Dharma
in the Western Hemisphere (pp.120 and 126).
Specific misrepresentations as to
the purpose and/or aim of the corporate entities
3H0 Foundation and Sikh Dharma Brotherhood, Inc..
were made in, among others, the following publications:(i)
Address of M.S.S. Guru Terath Singh Khalsa to
Khalsa Council, Los Angeles, California, April
17, 1978 as reprinted in Beads of Truth, Bead
No. 3, Vol. II (Fall, Sept. 1979) at page 36.
(ii) The Sin Singh Sahib, Beads of Truth, Bead
No. 36 (1977) at pages 36--38.
In reliance upon the foregoing misrepresentations
of fact and material omissions, the plaintiff:
(l) enrolled in and paid for yoga classes; (2)
gave all of her personal property and possessions
over to Bhajan at his demand; (3) became a member
of the defendant's cult; (4) followed all of the
directions and directives of Bhajan and the other
defendants; (5) worked thousands of hours without
compensation for Bhajan and the other defendants:
(6) worked thousands of additional hours for Bhajan
and the defendants without minimum wage and overtime
compensation required by law; (7) gave herself
over to Bhajan as a wife to a husband, serving
him faithfully and constantly between December
1969 and November 1984, and providing him upon
demand with sex, services and society; and (8)
submitted herself to a variety of practices and
procedures prescribed by Bhajan, some of which
were extreme and outrageous.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable
consequence of the defendants' acts as set forth
above, the plaintiff has suffered the following
physical, psychological and economic injury: (a)
She has paid thousands of dollars to Bhajan, directly
and through the corporate defendants, for various
lectures and classes, which were not what they
purported to be, and which were not only worthless,
but which were actually extremely harmful to the
plaintiff. (b) She has paid thousands of dollars
to Bhajan through the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood
corporation in the form of tithing and other monetary
contributions and payments to an ostensibly religious
or spiritual cause, but which was in fact nothing
more than a scheme to defraud the plaintiff and
others. (c) She has given thousands of hours of
uncompensated labor, and thousands of additional
hours of labor at a rate of compensation which
was less than fair market value and even than
the minimum levels of compensation required by
law to Bhajan and to the corporate defendants.
(d) She has suffered severed emotional trauma
and psychological injury, some of which is permanent,
which has resulted in her suffering acute and
chronic anxiety; acute and chronic fear; deep
depression; debilitating confusion about hen personal
identity and at times reality itself, total loss
of self confidence, self respect and self esteem,
pervasive feelings of deep shame and isolation,
retardation of her social growth and adjustment;
and similar consequences and symptoms of severe
and lasting personality disruption. (e) The plaintiff
has foregone marital, educational and career opportunities
for a period of over fifteen (15) years, with
resultant economic injury. (f) The plaintiff has
suffered a wide variety of physical injuries resulting
from her being subjected to the thought reform
process described above, and the methods employed
to affect that thought reform process. These physical
injuries include hypoglycemia; loss of weight;
malnutrition; headaches; chronic exhaustion; and
other partial paralysis of her right arm. (g)
The plaintiff has required medical treatment and
psychological counseling and treatment, which
medical and psychological counseling and treatment
is expected to continue on into the future. (h)
As a result of the aforementioned physical and
psychological injuries, the plaintiff has been
limited in the kind of employment she has been
able to accept since she left the defendants!
cult, and will continue to be so limited on into
the future. (i) As a consequence of the injury
suffered by the plaintiff, the plaintiff was rendered
incapable of understanding or perceiving the nature
or consequences of her actions, including but
not limited to her relationship with the defendants
and the defendants' relationship with the plaintiff.
Until September 1985, the plaintiff specifically
lacked any comprehension of the type, extent or
manner of her injuries, the mechanism by which
the defendants caused her injuries, or even the
fact that the defendants had caused her injuries.
As a consequence of the injury suffered
by the plaintiff, the plaintiff feared that Bhajan
could and would inflict grievous physical harm
upon or kill the plaintiff and members of her
family through direct physical assault and through
the use of magical or mystical powers, if she
spoke out against Bhajan or revealed what he had
done to her. This belief was the product of mental
delusion intentionally induced in the plaintiff
by the defendants while she was in the defendants'
cult, reinforced by actual assaults and threats
of assault which occurred while the plaintiff
was in the cult, similar threats of assault after
the plaintiff left, and other forms of harassment
which the defendants perpetrated against the plaintiff
after she left the cult (as more fully described
in Counts II, III and IV, below).
WHEREFORE, under this Count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this Honorable
Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry
of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the defendants, jointly and severally, in the
amount of $1.5 million in compensatory damages,
plus punitive on exemplary damages, plus interest
and all costs of suit. B. Such other relief as
the Court may deem to be just and equitable after
trial.
COUNT
II: ASSAULT AND BATTERY
As a complete and independent cause of action
the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against
each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 40 above, are hereby incorporated
into this Count by reference.
During the period between November
1968 and November, 1984, the plaintiff was repeatedly
sexually and physically assaulted, touched, and
treated in a manner which any person of ordinary
sensibilities would find to be- highly offensive,
and which caused the plaintiff pain and physical
harm, as well as fear, apprehension and resulting
mental and emotional harm.
None of the physical touching or
other acts described in this Count were done with
the voluntary, free or informed consent of the
plaintiff, nor were any of the defendants privileged
to carry out any of the acts described in this
Count.
All of the aforementioned acts of
the defendants described in this Count were done
willfully, wantonly and with conscious disregard
for the rights of the plaintiff. The defendants'
conduct in this regard was outrageous, and shocking
to the sensibilities of ordinary people.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable
consequence of the defendants' acts as set forth
above, the plaintiff has suffered the physical,
psychological and economic injury set forth above
at paragraphs 40 and 41. In addition the plaintiff
suffered bruising over her entire body; two elective
abortions; hemorrhaging which resulted in hospitalization;
and contraction of herpes simplex.
As a result of the aforementioned
emotional trauma and psychological injury, the
plaintiff has required extensive psychological
counseling and treatment, which psychological
counseling and treatment is expected to continue
on into the future.
As a result of the aforementioned
physical injuries the plaintiff has required treatment
from a variety of medical doctors and specialists,
which treatment is continuing to date and is expected
to continue on into the future.
As a result of the aforementioned
physical and psychological injuries, the plaintiff
has been limited in the kind of employment she
can accept since she left Bhajan's cult, and will
continue to be so limited on into the future.
WHEREFORE, under this Count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this honorable
Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry
of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the defendants, jointly and severally, in the
amount of $1.5 million in compensatory damages,
plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus costs
of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and permanent
injunction prohibiting Bhajan, any of the other
individual defendants in this case, any officer
of employee of any of the corporate defendants
in this case, and any other person acting as the
agent, employee or accomplice of any of the aforementioned
people or entities from having any contact or
communication of any kind with the plaintiff,
directly or indirectly, except through the plaintiff's
undersigned counsel. C. Such other relief as the
Court shall deem just and equitable after trial
of this case.
As a complete and independent cause
of action the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count
against each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 49 above, are hereby incorporated
into this Count by reference.
From approximately January, 1969,
and continuing until November, 1984, the defendants
held the plaintiff in a state of involuntary captivity
through a combination of mental coercion, false
promises, threats of damnation and unspeakable
spiritual torment which defendants knew to be
false, and threats of public humiliation, grievous
physical injury or death to the plaintiff if she
attempted to leave the physical confines of the
defendants' various compounds where Bhajan directed
she live. Any one of the foregoing threats was,
by itself, sufficient to constrain the plaintiff.
From January, 1969, and continuing
until approximately November 1984, the plaintiff
was watched constantly by members of Bhajan's
cult who would report her every move to Bhajan.
This watch was to prevent her from leaving the
ashram to which she had been assigned by Bhajan
without the permission of Bhajan, or from reporting
her situation to anyone outside the cult.
All of the aforesaid acts were carried
out at the direction of Bhajan, using the resources
of the defendant corporations and outside agencies
controlled by Bhajan, for the purpose of restricting
the personal liberty and freedom of locomotion
of the plaintiff.
At no time did any of the defendants
named in this Complaint have reasonable cause
or justification to so restrain the plaintiff,
nor did the plaintiff in any way or at any time
give her voluntary, free or informed consent to
such restraint.
The defendants' actions as described
in this Count were willful, wanton, outrageous,
illegal and totally without justification or authority.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable
consequence of the defendants' acts as set forth
above, the plaintiff has suffered the physical,
psychological and economic injury set forth above
at paragraphs 40 and 41, above.
WHEREFORE, under this Count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this honorable
Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry
of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the defendants, jointly and severally, in the
amount of $1.5 million in compensatory damages,
plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus interest
and costs of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and
permanent injunction prohibiting Bhajan, any of
the other individual defendants in this case,
any officer of employee of any of the corporate
defendants in this case, and any other person
acting as the agent, employee or accomplice of
any of the aforementioned people or entities,
from having any contact or communication of any
kind with the plaintiff, directly or indirectly,
except through the plaintiff's undersigned counsel.
C. Such other relief as the Court shall deem just
and equitable after trial of this case.
COUNT
IV: FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF SEVERE EMOTIONAL
DISTRESS
As a complete and independent cause of action
the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against
each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 57 above, are hereby incorporated
into this Count by reference.
During the period in which she was
a member of the defendants' cult, the plaintiff
was systematically subjected to a variety of extreme,
outrageous practices by the defendants, which
were designed to cause her severe emotional distress.
These practices included, but were not limited
to: (a) Subjecting her to the assaults, and humiliation
described in Count II, above. (b) Subjecting her
to the confinement and mental coercion described
in Count III, above. (c) Forcing the plaintiff
to adhere to a regimen of yoga exercises, prayer,
meditation and long hours of work which left little
time for sleep, and which, when coupled with an
extremely poor diet and bizarre fasts, had a mentally
debilitating effect upon the plaintiff, leaving
her confused, demoralized and unable to clearly
think or reason. (d) Causing the plaintiff to
be the subject of scorn and ridicule within the
group in order to upset her and cause her anguish
and humiliation by periodically denouncing her
in front of her peers, touching her, swearing
at her, and treating her with visible contempt
and disdain. (e) Telling the plaintiff that Bhajan
saw in her aura that it was her destiny to become
a physical cripple, lose her mind and live out
her life in a mental institution (all of which
predictions Bhajan knew to be groundless when
he made them) if she were to leave Bhajan's protection.
(f) Knowingly and intentionally inducing in the
plaintiff a mentally disabled state while subjecting
her to the aforementioned thought reform process
which, by design, undermined and eventually completely
destroyed the plaintiff's self--respect, self--esteem
and that concept of self and self--worth known
by mental health professionals as ego. As an integral
and necessary part of this process, the plaintiff
was constantly harassed, ridiculed, threatened,
berated publicly and privately and humiliated
any time she attempted to assert her personal
rights or independence, and was made to feel wrong,
inferior, sacrilegious and spiritually bankrupt
for even thinking about deviating from the behaviors
prescribed by Bhajan. Any human faults or failings
which the plaintiff had were emphasized, and the
plaintiff was constantly under pressure to surrender
herself to Bhajan through the group.
All of the acts of the defendants
described in this Count were carried out by the
defendants without privilege, justification or
the consent of the plaintiff.
The defendants' conduct as described
in this Count was willful, wanton, extreme and
outrageous, and was carried out by the defendants
with a corrupt motive, for. the purpose of causing
the plaintiff extreme mental and emotional distress.
The defendants' conduct as described
in this Count did, in fact, cause the plaintiff
extreme mental and emotional distress and anguish,
and physical harm resulting from the emotional
distress.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable
consequence of the defendants' .acts set forth
above, the plaintiff ~-has suffered the physical,
psychological, emotional and economic injury~
set forth in paragraphs 40 and 41, above.
WHEREFORE, under this Count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this honorable
Court will grant the following relief:A. Entry
of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the defendants, jointly and severally, in the
amount of $1.5 million in compensatory damages,
plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus costs
of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and permanent
injunction prohibiting Bhajan, any of the other
individual defendants in this case, any officer
of employee of any of the corporate defendants
in this case, and any other person acting as the
agent, employee or accomplice of any of the aforementioned
people or entities, from having any contact or
communication of any kind with the plaintiff,
directly or indirectly, except through the plaintiff's
undersigned counsel. C. Such other relief as the
Court shall deem just and equitable after trial
of this case.
COUNT
V: FOR VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL FAIR LABOR STANDARDS
ACT
As a complete and independent cause of action
the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against
each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 64 above, are hereby incorporated
into this Count by reference.
From November, 1981 through November,
1984 the plaintiff was paid as an employee of
a defendant corporation, receiving a salary of
$375.00 per month. From 1982 through November
1984, the plaintiff worked an average of ten hours
a day, five days a week. At no time was she paid
any overtime for any work week in which she worked
in excess of forty hours.
In addition, from 1969 through 1984,
the plaintiff worked for Bhajan personally, as
well as work for the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood corporation,
the 3H0 Foundation, the 3H0 Foundation of New
Mexico, and the corporation sole. The defendant
corporations are engaged in interstate Commerce.
Dividing the number of hours the
plaintiff worked during most work weeks in that
period into her weekly salary for that period,
the plaintiff was usually, if not always, paid
less than the minimum wage required by the ~Federal
Fair Labor Standards Act during the entire relevant
period.
A substantial portion of the total
business conducted by the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood
corporation, corporation sole and 3130 Foundation
between November, 1981 and November, 1984 was
carried out in interstate commerce.
At all times material to this Complaint,
defendant Yogi Bhajan was a corporate officer
and director responsible for compliance with the
Fair Labor Standards Act by the defendant corporations.
The failure of the defendants to
compensate the plaintiff at a rate of not less
than one and one--half times her regular rate
for the overtime hours she worked during the relevant
time period is contrary to the requirements of
S7(a) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. S207(a).
The defendants' failure to compensate
the plaintiff at a rate of at least $3.35 per
hour during the relevant time period is contrary
to the requirements of S6(a) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C.
S206(a).
The defendants' failure to comply
with SS6(a) and 7(a) of the FLSA was part of a
general pattern of predatory and unfair employment
practices, and was in willful disregard of the
rights of the plaintiff under the FLSA.
It is necessary for the plaintiff
to have the services of an attorney to institute
and prosecute this action against the defendants,
and the plaintiff has retained the undersigned
for this purpose. The plaintiff will be required
to expend reasonable attorneys fees, plus costs
in prosecuting this action.
The plaintiff is entitled to recover
unpaid overtime wages, unpaid minimum wages, and
the, costs and fees she will incur in bringing
this action, pursuant to 16(b) of the FLSA, 29
U.S.C. 216(b).
WHEREFORE, under this count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this court will
enter a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and
against each of the defendants, jointly and severally,
in the amount of all unpaid overtime, all unpaid
minimum wages, times two, plus costs of suit and
a reasonable attorney's fee for instituting and
prosecuting this action, plus such other relief
as the court may deem just, equitable and proper
after trial of this case.
COUNT
VI: INVASION OF PRIVACY
As a complete and independent cause of action
the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against
each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 76 above, are hereby incorporated
into this Count by reference.
The constant observation, surveillance
and monitoring of the plaintiff by the defendants
described in the foregoing Counts during the time
the plaintiff was a member of the defendants'
cult constituted an invasion of her right to be
left alone and was an invasion of her privacy.
While the plaintiff was a member
of the defendants' cult her mail was opened and
its contents delivered to or reported to Yogi
Bhajan. Telephone conversations between the plaintiff
and others within and without the cult were also
surreptitiously monitored, and the contents of
the conversations reported to Yogi Bhajan. This
interception and/or destruction of mail and telephone
communications by the defendants constituted an
invasion of the plaintiff's right to be left alone
and was an invasion of her privacy.
After the plaintiff left the 3H0
organization, Yogi Bhajan, or other members of
the cult at the direction and command of Yogi
Bhajan, continued to watch and monitor the plaintiff
in order to learn about the plaintiff's whereabouts,
movements and personal circumstances, and to gather
information with which to embarrass and/or discredit
the plaintiff. This was followed upon by false
statements about the plaintiff disseminated for
the purpose of demeaning the plaintiff. These
acts constituted an invasion of the plaintiff's
right to be left alone and were an invasion of
her privacy.
All of the aforesaid acts were done
by the defendants willfully, maliciously, and
without privilege or justification, and directly
and proximately caused the damages set forth above
at paragraphs 41(d), (e), (g), (h), (i) and 42,
above.
WHEREFORE, under this Count
the plaintiff respectfully prays this honorable
Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry
of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the defendants, jointly and severally, in the
amount of $1.5 million in compensatory damages,
plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus costs
of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and permanent
injunction prohibiting Yogi Bhajan, any officer
of employee of any of the corporate defendants
in this case, and any other person acting as the
agent, employee or accomplice of any of the aforementioned
people or entities, from having any contact or
communication of any kind with the plaintiff,
directly or indirectly, except through the plaintiff's
undersigned counsel. C. Such other relief as the
Court may deem just and equitable after trial
of this case.
Respectfully submitted,
Gordon Reiselt, Esq.
Singer, Smith and Williams
P.O. Box 25565
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87125 505) 47--3911
Peter N. Georgiades, Esq.
Robert S. Whitehill, Esq.
Rothman, Gordon, Foreman and
Groudine, P.A.
300 Grant Building
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 281--0705
ATTORNEYS FOR THE PLAINTIFF
JURY DEMAND
The plaintiff hereby demands a trial
by jury of all issues triable by jury, pursuant
.R. . . Rule
Peter N. Georgiades, Esq.
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF
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