Scientology Lies

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights says two Twin Cities chiropractors illegally fired three employees after they refused to join the Church of Scientology.

The department also said Wednesday that the former employees were repeatedly exposed to Scientology materials and teachings at work to the point where it became a condition of their employment.

The allegations were lodged against chiropractors Leonard Abel and Brett Ajax.

Abel, who owns a St. Louis Park clinic and shares an Anoka clinic with Ajax, denied the allegations and said he is not a member of the Church of Scientology.

Scientology was established in 1952 by a science fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard, who also wrote the self-help best-seller, "Dianetics," in 1950.

Human rights investigator Cindy Greenlaw Benton said the chiropractors told the department that they did not use Scientology techniques, but a business practice called management technology, which was invented by Hubbard.

But Greenlaw Benton said the practices were so closely related to those of Scientology that "We couldn't distinguish between the two."

The three workers were fired after they refused to take or didn't finish a course containing Scientology principles.