BOSTON -- The Church of Scientology and a woman who brought a $200 million lawsuit against the organization for harassment and illegal activity settled for $150,000 and the case was dismissed Monday by a federal judge.
The attorney for the woman, Michael Flynn, said the suit was brought against the church for 'harassment and written policies calling for illegal activities.'
Flynn said his client, La Venda Van Schaick, 35, has since moved out of Massachusetts.
'The parties jointly settled the case. It was a compromise between two parties to resolve their difference,' he said outside the courtroom.
Harry Silvergate, attorney for the Church of Scientology of California, said the church settled because 'they no longer believed that the Church of Scientology could obtain a fair trial in this court.'
In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge W. Arthur Garrity would not let Rev. Heber C. Jentzch, president of the Church of Scientology International of California, speak in his courtroom.
'The case is closed. You'll have to find a different forum, ' Garrity told church representatives.
The case has been overshadowed by a recent verdict in Portland, Ore., where a jury awarded $39 million in damages to a 27-year-old woman who said the church defrauded her of $3,000 for courses that were supposed to improve her eyesight and increase her intelligence.
Thousands of outraged church members protested in Oregon after the ruling.
