WTBTS Tries To Have Lawsuit Thrown Out

by Ianone 6 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Ianone

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  CITY & REGION Father retains control of estate Leanne Dohy Calgary Herald Saturday, February 26, 2005 A Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled Friday that a Calgary father will remain administrator of his daughter's estate, allowing him to pursue a lawsuit on her behalf against the church he believes caused her death. After being named administrator of his daughter Bethany's estate last Aug. 25, Lawrence Hughes launched a $1-million wrongful death lawsuit on her behalf against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, Edmonton's Cross Cancer Institute, several doctors and several Jehovah's Witnesses. Bethany's mother, Arliss Hughes, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and several other defendants wanted the administration order set aside on the grounds that Lawrence Hughes had failed to disclose relevant facts when he made his application. Justice Ged Hawco refused to set the order aside. "This has been a very good day," Lawrence Hughes said outside the courthouse. "My daughter Bethany will have the opportunity to speak for the very first time and tell what happened to her. She was a sick, frail child who was pressured, coerced and brainwashed by the Watchtower Society." Bethany Hughes died Sept. 5, 2002, less than six months after a series of blood transfusions she was given against her wishes. Alberta Children's Services assumed custody of the girl after she refused conventional treatment for the disease. Lawrence Hughes, who had been a practising Jehovah's Witness until after Bethany's diagnosis, also battled to have his daughter receive the transfusions. Bethany fought the transfusions, trying to pull the medical tubes from her arms while being treated at Alberta Children's Hospital. "If Bethany had accepted the blood transfusions, she would have been . . . shunned by her family and all of her friends," Hughes said. "If Bethany had accepted the blood transfusions, she was taught to believe, God would have destroyed her at Armageddon." Arliss Hughes said that it is unfortunate that Bethany's father "cannot come to grips with the reality that Bethany's tragic death was due to her terminal leukemia." "Mr. Hughes and I . . . were present in court proceedings on July 2, 2002 when Provincial Court Judge Vickery ruled Bethany's leukemia was terminal and the treatment recommendation was palliative care without blood transfusions," Hughes said in a statement. "It is offensive and deeply disturbing for Mr. Hughes to now blame Bethany's death on me, Bethany's friends, her doctors, the hospital in Edmonton and our faith." Justice Hawco said in his ruling that although there was a failure to disclose some material information, appointing Lawrence Hughes administrator was appropriate. "(Hughes) is alleging that his daughter opposed the transfusions because of the pressures exerted upon her by the defendants," Hawco said. "No other member of the family has come forward to vigorously pursue such a claim. Whether there is a legitimate claim is yet to be determined." Arliss Hughes, the Watchtower Society and the other defendants are pursuing an action to strike Lawrence Hughes' statement of claim, Hawco said, and are entitled to do so. "Whether the claim is legitimate or not is a decision to be made by . . . this court on another day. If I were to grant their application today, they would effectively be successful in striking the statement of claim without a hearing on the merits." [email protected] © The Calgary Herald 2005
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  Quotes

  WOOT!
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  Valis

  What is truly messed up about this situation and others like it is that thew Watchtower Society doesn't have the balls to stand up in a court of law and say "Yes! It is our fault people die sooner AND needlessly because of a belief we taught them."...Any org that said it was recieving info directly from god ought to have the guts to stand up to real scrutiny.Delusional coward bastards..

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
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  Quotes

  Valis, good point! If they truly believe they are doing "the right thing" then why don't they have the cajones to accept whatever consequences coma as a result of those "right" actions?
  
  After all, the expect R&F JWs to accept the consequences of abstaing from military service, living with an abusive spouse, etc.
  
  Apparently, it is "Do as we say, NOT as we do".
  
  ~Quotes of the "good for the goose and good for the gander" class
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  ezekiel3

  Arliss Hughes said that it is unfortunate that Bethany's father "cannot come to grips with the reality that Bethany's tragic death was due to her terminal leukemia."

  What a jerk!
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  avengers

  Arliss Hughes said that it is unfortunate that Bethany's father "cannot come to grips with the reality that Bethany's tragic death was due to her terminal leukemia."

  You can turn this statement around too.

  it is unfortunate that the Watchtower "cannot come to grips with the reality that Bethany's tragic death was due to the lack of treatment; lack of love."

  I say this because I have a niece who has had several transfusions when she was younger after being diagnosed for leukemia.
  The doctors had already said she probably won't live to be 18. Yet her determination and will and good doctors did all they could
  and now she's almost 30 and pregnant of her second child.

  I realize no case is the same, but instead of the meddling that the WT does in cases like Bethany's, why don't they butt out.
  They meddled in the case of my late granddaughter and she did not survive.
  What the Watchtower does is leave death in her wake. They care only about their image, not us.

  Andy
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  AlanF

  The best thing about the judge's decision is that the case will actually get to be tried on its own merits.

  This is something that Watchtower wants to avoid like the plague, since its arguments on the blood issue are nonsensical and its leaders know it. Hence, the lawyers do everything in their power to prevent cases from coming to court where the merits can be debated, and where the arguments become matters of public record.

  AlanF