The lawsuit, Sarah Edmondson et al., v. Keith Raniere et al, pits 70 plaintiffs against 15 defendants, four of whom are in prison. The lawsuit targets two deep-pocketed defendants, Sara and Clare Bronfman, the latter is in prison.
The claims vary among plaintiffs; the most serious are sex trafficking, human trafficking, racketeering, forced labor, peonage, conspiracy, malicious abuse of legal process, unauthorized human experiments, etc.
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Consumer Fraud
But there is another class of plaintiffs whose claims seem less serious than others.
Judge Eric Komitee styled these claims as falling under ‘consumer fraud.’ He suggested the plaintiffs making them rightly belonged in a separate lawsuit from plaintiffs who alleged the more serious claims above.
This consumer fraud group makes up more than half of the plaintiffs. There are 44 who claim they:
- Enrolled in NXIVM curriculum based upon Defendants’ false, material representations that Rational Inquiry provided a scientific, patent-pending technology that would lead to a successful career and self-fulfillment.
- Contrary to Defendants’ representations, NXIVM’s system was neither scientific nor patentable. Defendants also failed to disclose a material fact – that Rational Inquiry was actually a pseudo-scientific hodgepodge of psychotherapeutic methods which, when practiced by unlicensed and unqualified lay-people, subjected its participants to an unreasonable risk of serious psychological injury and emotional distress.
- As a result of Defendants’ scheme, criminal acts, and misrepresentations and omissions, [plaintiff] was emotionally and financially harmed.
And 35 of the 44 have an additional claim:
- As part of Defendants’ scheme, [plaintiff] performed uncompensated labor, working for many hours without compensation for the benefit of the Defendants.
When they first joined the lawsuit, these 44 individuals were told their names would not be disclosed without their consent. Most were identified at first as John and Jane Does.
As the civil case progressed, it seemed that Judge Komitee was not going to grant anonymity to all of them.
Alleged victims of consumer fraud do not get anonymity in litigation.
Attorney Neil Glazer gave the consumer fraud plaintiffs a choice: drop out of the lawsuit or be named. Some dropped out; most chose to remain.
A Picture of the NXIVM Student Emerges
After the 44 self-identified themselves, Frank Report was able to find most of them online. For the first time, the public could get a sampling of what the NXIVM student was like.
Among the 44 are some who had more than a nodding acquaintance with NXIVM. Some were coaches who wore yellow sashes. They were not paid but were permitted to attend intensives in return for assisting the trainers. They got to imbibe the course and learn to help teach it.
But most were students, never going beyond the white sash.
They spent money on courses. The Five-Day Intensive was $2,100. The 16-day intensive was $7,500, discounted to $6,000 under certain conditions. Most of them took multiple intensives.
NXIVM officials claim that 17,000 people took courses during its 20-year existence. These 44 represent a sample.
If the inner circle and heads of centers were the NXIVM company, these 44 were the clients, the customers. They consumed the product NXIVM was selling.
Here They Are:
Vancouver
Warne Livesey was a NXIVM coach. He is a music producer whose records have sold millions of copies for Thomas Dolby, Sinead O’Connor, Midnight Oil, Holly McNarland, and others.
Jeffrey Golfman has a track record in the recycling business that might make him a pioneer. He partnered with Woody Harrelson to found Prairie Paper making paper from wheat straw waste, and patented a method for manufacturing 100 percent non-wood fiber paper.
Yan Huang is Golfman’s wife.
Rod Christiansen was a NXIVM coach. He is an IT consultant and automation expert.
Massage therapist, OwenGiroux.com
Polly Green is a fashion design instructor at Visual College of Art and Design.
Stay-at-home mom Gabrielle Gendron describes her job as Stay-at-home mom She describes her duties as “Meal planning, prepping, cooking, and serving. Cleaning, organization, laundry, care for others, organizing schedules, communications, problem-solving, and shopping.”
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Christopher Black- still looking. Seen with a white sash.
Deanne Brunelle operates a virtual support business for small businesses and ‘solopreneurs.”
Rosalyn Cua is a writer and eco-friendly entrepreneur
Ashely Harvey was a NXIVM coach. He is an IT consultant once with MAcin Home.
This former member of NXIVM was known as Matthew Carrier when he was taking classes. Now she is known as Madeline Carrier.
Brieanna Fiander was a NXIVM coach. She is a Program Supervisor at Pivot Point Family Growth Centre
Shayna Holmes was a NXIVN coach. Her stage name is Chastity Twist. She is an exotic and burlesque dancer and dance instructor.
Shayna as Chastity Twist
Tanya Hubbard was a NXIVM coach and is an actress and consultant.
Ariella Menashy, a teacher, was a NXIVM proctor [Orange Sash]. For ten years – 2007-2017.-She once planned to open a Rainbow Cultural Garden school. She had a change of heart:
She spoke about leaving after the branding stories came out.
Menashy said, “You have to understand when you leave NXIVM, you’ll never hear from these people again. So I understand if it’s your life — for me, it wasn’t, but for these people, it is. It’s scary.”
“Just stop this ridiculousness of propagating the ideas of a sociopath,” Menashy said. “There’s really no question at this point he [Raniere] has bad intent.”
Ashley McLean – is an author who appeared in Seduced.
Maja Miljkovic was a NXIVM coach and is a writer.
Anthony Madani was a NXIVM coach and is a Video Creator | Animator | Scriptwriter | Video Marketing Expert
Michelle Neal Aka Meeshelle ‘Meesh’ Neal was a NXIVM coach and is “an award-winning queer Canadian filmmaker.”
She recently directed two feature-length movies with CME & Reel One and “shattered the glass ceiling by being the first writer to have two projects accepted into the [Whistler] Talent Lab.”
Hannah Vanderheyden was a NXIVM coach. She is an international life coach and group facilitator. “She is a leader of inner peace, fulfillment, and group cohesiveness. Hannah helps us break free from small yet powerful forces that stop us from empowering – the ‘us’ underneath.”
Robert Gray is a screenwriter and professor in Halifax. He teaches in the film studies department at the University of New Brunswick.
Chad Williams is a “kinesiologist, serial entrepreneur, fitness & health coach, and 3rd degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.”
Sarah Wall is a coach, and her company is Aligned Soul Wellness Group.
Pamela Cooley was a NXIVM coach and co-founder of Communauto Atlantic, “a social and environmental enterprise providing an alternative to personally owned vehicles,” and founder of Choosethical Ventures Inc., a “facilitation and consulting company based in Vancouver and Halifax.”
USA
Andrea Hammond
Nils MacQuarrie, AKA Seth Sharp, is a musician and videographer.
Allison Rood is a standup comedian.
Katie Shaw is an actress.
Julianna Vicente is the mother of Mark Vicente. She used to work for NXIVM.
Ken Kozak is a photographer, videographer, and graphic designer. When he entered the world of NXIVM, he was Michele Salzman’s boyfriend. After they broke up, he stayed in NXIVM and married Sahajo Haertel. He assisted Vicente in NXIVM filmography and worked with Nicki Clyne in communications.
Susan Wysocki is president of iWomansHealth, and is “a women’s health key opinion leader, writer, speaker, and consultant.” She was a friend of Nancy Salzman.
Elham Menhaji was a NXIVM coach. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Kayla Grosse was a NXIVM coach and is a Community Manager & Content Writer at Live Your Message. She specializes in social media, optimized blogs, and affiliate marketing.
Stephanie Fair-Layman was a NXIVM coach and reportedly an assistant for Tom Cruise. She does event coordinating and small business consulting.
Tabitha Chapman, who appeared in Seduced, is CEO & Founder of the Freedom Train Project Incorporated. She is a Marriage and Family Therapist, Professional Clinical Counselor at Life Source Affordable Counseling. Writer/Blogger, Parenting Coach, Early Childhood Educator.
He credited Raniere with helping him become a triathlon athlete in the past. Of the teachings of Raniere, he once said, “That’s been, as an athlete, priceless.”
Philip Akka is a flame artist and editor. He once Sang at V -Week to significant acclaim.
Karla Diaz Cano was a NXIVM coach She is a photographer, stylist, and designer.
Alejandro Balassa was a NXIVM coach. He is a film producer who helped make Encender El Corazon with Mark Vicente, a film about Raniere’s ideas about how to start a peace movement in Mexico. He is “An award-winning Hungarian-Chilean executive producer and director with a strong background in creating meaningful content for Latin American television.”
No Photo: Susan Pratt, Canada.
Harm
What impresses me is that every one of them says in the lawsuit they experienced “emotional harm.” This is not a reluctant admission. They appear to be a bright, eclectic group. They had a chance to avoid self-identification.
They assert they were exposed to “an unreasonable risk of serious psychological injury and emotional distress.”
If they were at risk and none was injured, then the risk was small. But they assert that, despite their roles in society, their careers, their success, their reputation, they may have been seriously injured by a cult the whole world knows is vile.
Forty-four people with a varying record of success publicly state that a cult damaged them. They may have psychological damage. They have emotional harm. The Raniere touch. They were guinea pigs of a psychopath.
Viva Executive Success!
It has come to my attention that “they”
Mrs. Carrier is none other than the elegant and divine Bangkok.
Is Tabitha Chapman the same “Tabby” that worked on the Girls By Design site? If so, maybe she should also sue Kendra and Kristin Kook — they have money.
Yes, that’s right. Tabitha Chapman has worked for the Girls By Design Internet site.
I do not think – in case anybody does think it – that Tabitha had anything but the best intentions with GBD- which was to help and mentor teen girls.
Keith probably had lascivious intentions. Nancy probably wanted to enable it. But they did not share that. Tabitha and Kendra maybe even Kristin Kreuk and Allison weren’t doing this with bad intentions. They thought they were doing good, thought this would be an opportunity to help teens and failed to realize that a lecherous conniver was in the background pretending to be a compassionate genius.
“Tabitha and Kendra maybe even Kristin Kreuk and Allison weren’t doing this with bad intentions. They thought they were doing good”
If so, Kreuk’s reputation suffered the most from her naive association with GBD and NXIVM. She’s now fodder for crude sex jokes.
Tabby is still on good terms with Kendra and Kristin.
So Tabby’s lawsuit doesn’t claim having worked for K&K’s teen-grooming GBD damaged her?
Hot diggity, Chastity Twist is the one for me. Wowa Mia
These people seem to be stable if a bit new age-y.
It’s almost an endorsement for NXIVM
[…] is one of 44 consumer fraud plaintiffs who claim they suffered financial and emotional harm and were placed “at risk of serious […]
Keith Raniere & Nancy Salzman couldn’t have done what they did with NXIVM without the Bronfmans’ money.
Saying this lawsuit is going after two deep pockets is BS.
The more money they got, the more they abused the shit out of people.
There are people who are not in this lawsuit who were abused by the Bronfmans’ money but for whatever reason they timed out.
Their abuse happened too long ago they will get nothing even though the Bronfmans’ money was used just the same to torture them.
Raniere always lived off the money of others’ efforts. He destroyed everything that could have been good and drove the bus of his evil doings back and forth over that were lied to that he was an ethical human being.
Don’t go feeling sorry for these two spoiled brats. They willingly gave this nut case anything he wanted.
Why shouldn’t they pay for the damage he and those in his company caused?
It seems to be they all benefited from their NXIVM intensives.
Is there any data/comparison with where each was at career wise prior to engaging NXIVM?
Did their careers originate and/or thrive over the years they were with NXIVM?
Some of the fabulous forty-four actually speak on womens issues and provide counseling. Are you out of your minds? I think I’ll get counseling from a woman who is claiming psychological damage from a cult she belonged to for many years. Hang that on your shingle.
Does that NXIVM experience disqualify them from being counselors ? I do not think so but the fact that they admit they might be at risk of mental injury is a bit of an issue.
Thought the adder but wiser argument might hold true here. They know about this because it happened to them
The FAB FOURTY-FOUR –
The DATA, you ask?
Well, considering how the careers of Mack, Clyne, Vicente, etc. all flourished from their involvement with Raniere, I think it’s a safe bet to say their careers did not improve. Or, if they did, it was due more to their distance from Raniere and Albany than any nonsense they learned in NXIVM.
Raniere was a master at getting smart, creative people to waste all their time doing bs for him.
Clyne left Battlestar to be with him and focus solely on NXIVM and her career never recovered, Mack’s career fizzled as she spent more time in Albany, and Vicente wasted years filming Raniere.
The closer people were to Raniere, the worse their career decline. Not to mention their emotional and mental decline.
So, there’s your DATA!
Fab Forty-Four
But…
One could also argue that if they all had the disposable income to spend on very pricey Nxivm courses and the ability to take weeks off of work to take intensives, travel and all that ESP/Nxivm required of their time, plus financially and otherwise… Then these folks were probably already doing quite well pre Nxivm.
“Coaching ” isn’t registered or licensing counseling. It’s a scam. Somehow, legislators need to officially recognize that fact. State boards of psychology need to step up and defend their own profession. All of these types of cults and scams will disappear once coaching is finally deemed illegal.
It’s nice to see the faces of these people who are taking a stance against keith’s sick schemes.
If I’d been in the same situation and light had been shed on my employer or coach or group or whatever and I began to see that I’d been used as a tool to further a racket that at its core was being used to blackmail, brand and traffic women, I’d be feeling pretty damaged, too.
These people were deceived and used as part of a scheme that ultimately served the selfish and criminal desires of keith raniere. All because they sought to improve themselves.
I’d be devasted to learn something that I participated in and thought was good for me was actually so damaging to so many.
I think they are justified in making their claims. And while some here seem to believe it’s all about getting some share of some bronfman money, I’ll be more than a little surprised if that actually happens. I also don’t think that’s the point.
I think the moral of this story is do not lie to and deceive people. It is wrong. And? If you do this anyway? Do not be surprised if people turn on you.
What these people once thought was probably kinda cool and joyful? They now lay claims against because they were deceived and lied to.
That’s what happens when you lie.
Comedienne Allison Rood should sue NXIVM and its leaders for being in a sex cult for three years and not even knowing it!
Comedienne Allison Rood is funnier than Nicki Clyne
I am generally suspicious of “self-help” courses. Do the people teaching them make their living using the techniques they are teaching, or do they make their money from “course” fees?
This is quite similar to other schemes, such as the guy that claims to teach you how to get rich flipping houses. Did he get rich doing so, or is he getting rich off the “classes.”
I have seen NXIVM claim to be a “practical MBA.” I have never had a NXIVM class, but I do have an MBA. It has served me well.
Bravo to these brave men and women! They were all courageous enough to see the evidence before them that NXIVM was a dangerous cult and that Raniere had “bad intent,” and they got out and moved on with their lives.
I think it’s important that regular NXIVM members show the world that DOS was not the only harmful part of NXIVM. The whole thing was rotten.
I am happy they did not let Nicki and the other leftovers (who clearly lack their bravery) bully them into dropping out of the suit. There is no shame in being conned and having an evil sadistic person take advantage of your good intent, seeing the truth and then leaving. The only shame is staying despite the truth, being complicit in the lies by advocating for the one who started them, and then spreading even more lies.
I hope they all get a lot of money!
Shout out to NiceGuy!
Our common life coach has assessed us as an anticultist dipshit ninny (myself) and a drunken dipshit troll (yourself).
I am now confused. Does that mean I am better than you or not?
Can you please help clear the fog?
🤔🙁😐
Alex-
“Life coach”, LMAO!
I love the “drunken, troll title.” It makes me feel special. Personally, I think of you as a anti-anti-cultist, satirist/humorist, ninny-pooh,
anti-troll-troll.
***
Who the F’ uses the word “ninny” these days?
Alanzo is such a nincompoop. 😉
I meant to say I think of you as an
anti-anti-anti-cultist.
Things get so convoluted dealing with Alonso.
The triple negative means affirmative in logic/mathematics. Anti-anti-anti cultist has the meaning of cultist.
Correction: The double negation means affirmative in logic/mathematics. Anti-anti cultist has the meaning of cultist.
😂
Can’t wait to see all the anticultists here who are going to shame these people for trying to improve their lives.
These are people, like the rest of the 17,000, who took NXIVM courses and who never harmed anyone and never would. Who were never in a “sex cult”, who were never “brainwashed”, and who do not fit the narration that anticultists, and the government, are trying to get everyone else to swallow.
It’ll be interesting to see who here can actually say something original about these people, something outside the government’s, and even SuperStar Neal’s, story-telling.
And that includes portraying these people as poor victims, especially if they took one course in NXIVM and felt it was helpful enough to buy a second course.
So this is a challenge to all the anticult dipshits here – are you smart enough to think for yourself?
Start.
Alanzo
I understand some people fall for cults initially but now the only thing I expected from them is to say something like IT’S A CULT to everyone and everywhere.
It’s been several years, and they didn’t say shit. They are responsible for the destruction.
If they liked the participation, then I do not like them.
I would not hang around people who aren’t good characters, like cultists.
But I do agree they’re money grubbing leeches and nothing more.
Aloozer-
No one is shaming them(victims), you “dipshit”.
Most everyone on the FrankReport feels bad for the actual victims of
Kieth Raniere and his NXIVM scam.
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I find it F’ing priceless that you’re now coming out and quasi-defending the victims, at the same time you’re calling them liars. What planet are you on?
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
“Alanzo” appears to have a severe case of Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Dealing with someone with this disorder is eerily similar to playing whack-o-mole.
Forgot to post link in my post, sorry.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9905-oppositional-defiant-disorder
Symptoms of ODD can be grouped into three categories:
Angry/irritable mood:
Loses temper easily
Frequent outbursts of anger and resentment
Touchy and/or easily annoyed
Angry and/or disrespectful
Argumentative/defiant behavior:
Excessively argues with adults
Actively refuses to comply with requests and rules
Blames others for the child’s own mistakes
Deliberately tries to annoy or upset others, or is easily annoyed by others
Vindictiveness
Is spiteful and seeks revenge
Says mean and hateful things when angry or upset
Nah. I use to be an antiScientologist. I’m going through my anticult apostasy phase where I like getting into bar fights with anticultists.
See, having been one, I know how ignorant, pinheaded and abusive anticultists are to people in minority religions and subcultures.
Just like when I left Scientology, it felt good to rebel against that domineering idiocy. It presently feels good to crack some anticult heads here at Frank’s daily bar fight called “The Frank Report Comment Section”.
Someone’s gotta do it. Or you’ll whip yourselves up into a bigoted frenzy and ignite another Waco, or Nauvoo, or Wounded Knee. Or create another Torquemada.
Or Moira Penza.
You should thank me for my service.
Alanzo
Alonzo-
There is literally no one on the internet or for that matter the world that likes you. People can’t stand you. You have no friends. No one.
Wait a minute. I like Alanzo.
It’s not the cultists we hate, it’s you, you ugly ass piggy. 🐷
Let me get this right, because anybody who goes against you is ignorant and pinheaded… ?
aren’t YOU the one who got sucked into Scientology?
I particularly like “Excessively argues with adults”!
LOL
Alanzo- I wept all weekend because you didn’t post on the Frank Report. We noticed you temporarily made your Twitter account private. Don’t worry, we took the liberty of becoming one of your Twitter followers. It’s very curious none of the multitude of accounts comment on your feed.
Leave the light on tonight.
Alanzo, my dear friend, we’re so overjoyed you’ve returned to the Frank Report.
There’s a sea of information about you on the internet’s “WayBack Machine” website. We would like to share this information. We believe you’ve had a psychotic break. You’re a bit of a schizoid, egocentric, and bipolar misanthropist. It’s time you take inventory of your mind, examine your true self.
My dear, Alonzo, your outlook has certainly changed since 2012.
“Getting out of a ‘cult’ is not something that you recover from, it is something you are strengthened by.” — Alanzo
Today, you say cults don’t exist, but clearly you believed in them at one time. We find it ponderous.
This is entirely consistent with my views on “cults” today. In fact, this is one of my first breaks from the anticult ideology I got stuck in after Scientology.
AntiCult ideology demands that you were “brainwashed” and ‘mentally damaged’ while you were in the cult. Unless there was a rape or some other actual violence, that is completely false. Merely having a belief different from the mainstream does not damage you, although anticultists try to teach you that it does.
Further, getting yourself into, and out of, a belief system that is not mainstream teaches you lessons few other people have learned. You gain experience in an area most people do not have. This teaches you very profound things that are deeply and universally human.
So that quote isn’t any different from what I believe today. In fact, it’s the basis of what I believe today.
It was really good for me to get myself into and out of Scientology, and then get myself into and out of anticultism.
I’m very grateful for the lessons I’ve learned going through both.
Alanzo
We are overjoyed, you’ve responded.
Committed Alanzo scholars, such as yourself, should be thrown a bone every once in a while.
Keep up the great work. You should look around in the 2007-2008 time frame.
And also 1999-2001.
If you have any questions, you can reach me here.
Happy hunting.
Alanzo
Many of these people went out performing unlicensed unregistered counseling and therapy called coaching which is actually is damaging people’s lives. If they truly want to help others, go to college like everyone else and get a real psychology degree and become licensed. But….they won’t.
Frank, I like how the changes you’ve made to the website are keeping Alanzo from the usual trolling under his own name. Guess he’ll have to rely on his puppets.
Well said Aloozer!
Hey A-hole!
Alonzo is back!
Hope you’re happy!
Are any of these people landmark or nxivm/esp?
http://www.davidneagle.com
http://www.howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com
https://rjonrobins.com/
https://smbteam.com/team/
https://www.lawyermastermind.club/
just a quick link update
https://howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com/our-department/
“They spent money on courses. The Five-Day Intensive was $2,100. The 16-day intensive was $7,500, discounted to $6000 under certain conditions.”
Of note is most business courses of various nature, be it for certs, training, etc. often fall in this price range. Usually its big corporations that pay for these things (that the stupid high prices) so find it interesting that NXIVM priced themselves in similar fashion. I guess to seem more legit or something. Since goal of a cult is to grow, seems cheaper would have been smarter. On the other hand those willing to pay those high prices for those types of “courses” immediately marked themselves as potential marks for cult recruitment.
I suspect most just joined lawsuit hoping for an easy payday since its no cost to them to participate. Same way can get a few bucks from the occasional class action lawsuit (that usually never arrives). Easy to say “add me to the list” if doesn’t require any real effort beyond reading the occasional update. I suspect, by some miracle (because goal is to settle) this actually goes to trial, if they have to show up for court or deal with discovery scrutiny, the number remaining will drop significantly.