Lawyer from Canada Bethel turns whistleblower

by krismalone 17 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    The OP video is a short excerpt from CBC's The Fifth Estate's "Spiritual Shepherds" that was originally broadcast on January 29, 2003.

    OK that was now 14 years ago and this whistleblower is still hiding his identity ? in the year 2017 ?

    BluesBrothera day agoa day ago

    At least Barbara Anderson was prepared to stand up and be identified, and face the music. That is a real whistleblower who has my respect

    I agree wholeheartedlyBB

    Protecting the identity of whistle blowers is a fairly standard practice. And more common than not when a television expose is done on sensitive material concerning a large corporation and/or religion.

    Maybe so but a person who puts their money where their mouth is ,is going to gain a lot more respect and believabillity than someone who doesn`t put their name to an allegation and hides there identity .

  • OrphanCrow
    OrphanCrow
    smiddy3: The OP video is a short excerpt from CBC's The Fifth Estate's "Spiritual Shepherds" that was originally broadcast on January 29, 2003.
    OK that was now 14 years ago and this whistleblower is still hiding his identity ? in the year 2017 ?

    Huh? How do you know that? How do you know he still hides his identity?

    What is it that you expect from this man who has blocked out his identity 14 years ago? Would you be happier if he somehow, magically, made his identity known on a 14 year old video? And how exactly would you propose that would happen? Would he wave a wand and his face would appear on that old video? Or should he keep an eye on online content so that if and when this video pops up somewhere he can show up and say...Hey everyone! That is me! Joe Blow from Cocomo!

    And besides, you (and me, and everyone else) know nothing about this man's personal life. Nothing. Nobody is in the position to judge why this man has chosen (14 years ago) to keep his identity protected.

    And as far as respect and being believable goes, that is what comes from appearing on a television production such as the Fifth Estate. The tv show is respectable. The broadcaster is respectable. That is what makes this story believable.

    Attacking the whistleblower for keeping his identity private is akin to shooting the messenger.

  • waton
    waton

    come to think of it, the prototype whistleblower, Joseph, kept his identity hidden too, until the right moment. Perhaps here too, WT will be made to eat crow. ( not orphan though).

  • sparrowdown
    sparrowdown

    Many refugees from high control religious groups keep their identity from the broader public under wraps for obvious reasons at some point, we of all people should understand that.

    I've seen whistleblower/expose type interviews with ex-muslim, jews, scientologists, mormons, amish, satanists, kkk and many others and if some of them feel the need to obscure their face I completely understand why.

  • John Davis
    John Davis

    If this person is, in fact, working for the legal department he could be sued for breaking of attorney-client privilege. The privilege does not just apply to lawyers but to those that are working under the direction of lawyers. Also, I am not certain in Canada but let's say that someone from the US Legal Department did this, the things that they said wouldn't be admissible in a court of law again because it is breaking the attorney-client privilege.

  • Incognito
    Incognito
    he could be sued for breaking of attorney-client privilege

    In the clip in the OP, he was only speaking in general. He didn't identify any specific victim, perp, elder, congregation name or case number.

  • John Davis
    John Davis

    That is why I said could be sued, there are a lot of factors that go into if a violation like this is actionable. But it could also be that even in general terms without specifics it could be a violation of the attorney-client privilege. If you are working for an attorney and a corporate client is asking the attorney to help set policy that work is still privilege. The idea behind the privilege is to ensure that clients can speak freely to their counsel openly and frankly in order to ensure justice.

    As https://www.legaltree.ca/node/792 states:

    The purpose of solicitor-client privilege is to facilitate full and frank communication between client and lawyer in the seekingand giving of legal advice, thereby promoting access to justice. The Court has said that the “privilege is based on the functional needs of the administration of justice. The legal system, complicated as it is, calls for professional expertise. Access to justice is compromised where legal advice is unavailable.”[2] “Clients must feel free and protected to be frank and candid with their lawyers with respect to their affairs so that the legal system […] may properly function”.[3] The privilege “stretches beyond the parties and is integral to the workings of the legal system itself. The solicitor-client relationship is a part of that system, not ancillary to it”.[4]

    I am not saying in one way or another that he should be sued or suffer other penalties. It does though explain why he may not want to identify himself for the fear of suffering civil penalties over this.

    But I also state what I stated because some people here have made the thought that if a member of the US legal department fades and starts to spill the beans that this would be a huge help to lawyers like Zalkin. My point is that if a member of the US Legal Department did do that, it may provide some help but the information provided would be privileged and would most likely never be able to be used in civil litigations.

    Look at even in the Lopez case Mr Zalkin has all files of child abuse prior to 2001 but those documents are under seal and it would be a violation of the law for him to use it in any other case because those documents have a measure of privilege.

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    Huh? How do you know that? How do you know he still hides his identity?

    Well has he revealed his identity here ?

    And besides, you (and me, and everyone else) know nothing about this man's personal life. Nothing. Nobody is in the position to judge why this man has chosen (14 years ago) to keep his identity protected.

    point taken ,I just think after 14 years this man could be more open about why he would go on a TV show as an expose of the WT religion to the whole world so to speak and after all these years still not reveal himself to be be a more credible whistleblower ?

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