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Werner Erhard vs. Columbia Broadcasting System
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Werner Erhard vs. Columbia Broadcasting System is a lawsuit filed on March 3, 1992 by Werner Erhard in Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County against CBS and twenty-two other defendants.
Erhard's attorney was Walter Maksym, which they later voluntarily removed from their archives due to factual discrepancies. Specifically Erhard's daughter, Deborah Pimental, stated that he molested her when she was 16, and claimed that he raped her sister. The daughter referred to by Pimental refused to speak to the media about the allegations. Erhard's daughters subsequently retracted these allegations. The broadcast also included other allegations from est staff members that Erhard subjected them to physical and emotional abuse On March 3, 1992 (one-year-to-the-date after the initial 60 Minutes broadcast), Erhard filed a libel and defamation lawsuit against twenty defendants, including CBS, John Hubner of San Jose Mercury News, Hustler, National Enquirer, the organization Cult Awareness Network, and San Francisco attorney Andrew Wilson. The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Illinois. and was executive producer of a 2006 film about Erhard: Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard. Wilson won a wrongful termination case against Erhard in 1991, and had represented Charlene Afremow in her 2 million lawsuit against Erhard. The January 21, 1991 edition of National Enquirer contained an article about Erhard, as did the August 1991 issue of Hustler, and Erhard claimed both sources contained false statements. Erhard claimed in the lawsuit that CBS News falsely characterized him "as a role model claiming to be God and involved in 'idolatry'", and said this was false because he "did not advertise himself as such but strongly and consistently encouraged people to think for themselves". By June 1992, Erhard had dropped his lawsuit against 60 Minutes and the other defendants, and sent checks for $100 to each of the defendants, covering the filing fees they had paid in the case. Erhard stated to King that his family members had since retracted their allegations, which had been made under pressure from CBS, and that the accusations of tax evasion aired in the program were "misunderstandings" that were in the process of being resolved.
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