I have some unique and troubling news.
I just got off the telephone with Scott Boer, Vicki Boer's husband and before that Vicki. Her honour, Justice Anne Molloy, has just ruled on the legal cost issue in the Boer case.
Her Honour has ruled that Vicki has to pay legal costs to the Watchtower back to the year 2001 even though she won the case. Watchtower has to pay legal costs before 2001.
The reason for the judgement seems to be found in that there was an original offer by the Watchtower of 20,000 dollars back in 2001 for what the Watchtower elders put her through in the "confrontations". Vicki refused the 20,000 dollar offer on advise of counsel but it was considered the "official" offer.
The Watchtower then made a second offer that I guess was not an "official offer" of 56,000 dollars with an apology to Vicki but it was rejected on advise of her lawyer and also and more importantly on the advise of a pre-trial judge (different than Judge Molloy) because the Watchtower wanted to "gag" Vicki and her immediate family.
So today, the Judge ruled under a Ontario Courts of Justice Act regulation that even though Vicki won her judgement, it was below the total legal costs of the Watchtower and costs of the offer, and thus, Vicki has to pay 142,000 dollars to the Watchtower legal costs and I suspect her own lawyer's bill of 92,000. I don't know too many people in the real world who have that kind of money. Vicki of course wanted her story to be made public including to her family to show she wasn't lying and to help other survivors. What a price to pay for a young innocent rape survivor who wanted to alert the public and survivors as to what has been going on and wanting to prove to her Jehovah's Witness family that she was not making it all up.
So Vicki speaks to try and tell her story in public on how she was treated by her dad and the Watchtower and she wins against the Watchtower a sum of 5,000 dollars. And what does the Watchtower do? They nail her to the wall for over 140,000.00 dollars.
I remember a person who I consider a good friend once telling me that the Watchtower never uses the courts to hurt other witnesses or sue others including Jehovah's Witnesses. I also remember reading article after article in the Watchtower magazines, official doctrine of the Governing Body, that teaches how JWs should never take other JWs to court over disputes and should never ever seek revenge either through the courts or other avenues. I remind you that Vicki is still a JW in good standing and this is exactly what has happened here on the full knowledge and support of the Canadian Bethal in Halton Hills and Governing Body.
I wish to also remind all that we are dealing with a rape victim/survivor who still is considered to have some serious mental illnesses. I have observed first hand what can happen to people like Vicki in set backs like this. The Watchtower also knew exactly what I know and even had stated publically that they as an organization were very "compassionate" to all these rape victims within their Kingdom Halls. For anyone with even "half of the compassion" that would mean you would know that you could really do a lot of further mental damage to a rape victim/surviivor by seeking monetary revenge from the victim the way the Watchtower did in this case by seeking legal costs.
I strongly suspect Vicki is thinking that she was just raped again. I suspect this is going to be very painful and I would urge all to support her in this mess. I am very proud of what she has accomplished in exposing what has gone on and I know it there will come a day thanks to her that young children and women may actually be properly protected in this organization.
In conclusion I hope that those who are JWs or those who think of becoming JWs think long and hard about this and the organization they belong to. This is exactly how the Church of Scientology and other destructive groups go after those followers who do not conform all the while hiding/denying this information to/from the rest of the rank and file and "love bombing" new people who they are trying to recruit.
Hawk (Who can barely speak at this point)