Forty-Four Plaintiffs Open Window to NXIVM Students
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.
Keith Raniere
Keith Raniere, founder of NXIVM and lead defendant.
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While NXIVM had websites
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.
Plaintiffs' attorney Neil Glazer
Plaintiffs’ attorney Neil Glazer
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.
From seduced a coach with one stripe.
A coach with one stripe.
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 - Student
Yan Huang is Golfman’s wife.
Rod Christiansen was a NXIVM coach. He is an IT consultant and automation expert.
Owen
Massage therapist, OwenGiroux.com
“A passionate RMT who loves helping people. My goal is to help you reach yours, be that less pain or better performance 🇨🇦💆♂️🏋️♂️🧘♀️”
Polly Green is a fashion design instructor at Visual College of Art and Design.
Stay-at-home mom Gabrielle Gendron describes her job as CEO of Household: a Stay-at-home mom 2007 – Present · 15 yrs 4 mos. 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.
Rees Alan Haynes.
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.
Sara Lim was a NXIVM Coach. Now, she is a paralegal at Rivkin Radler LLP, and competes in Roller Derbies.
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
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.
Scott Starr was a NXIVM coach and VP of Business Development at Dynamic Energy.
He appeared on the CBC podcast Escaping NXIVM and gave reporters a tour of the Sports Barn where Raniere played volleyball.
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!
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.