Hendel v. World Plan Executive Council

705 A.2d 656, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 290, 1997 WL 793198
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 30, 1997
Docket96-CV-105
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 705 A.2d 656 (Hendel v. World Plan Executive Council) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hendel v. World Plan Executive Council, 705 A.2d 656, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 290, 1997 WL 793198 (D.C. 1997).

Opinions

SCHWELB, Associate Judge:

Transcendental meditation (TM) is described by its proponents as “an effortless meditation technique designed to enable the meditator to achieve a deeply restful, yet alert, mental state and to provide a means for the mind to experience finer and more quiet levels of the thought process.” The technique was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and is said to be based on the ancient Vedic tradition, which has its roots in India. For many years, appellees World Plan Executive Council (WPEC) and Maharishi International University (MIU) have offered courses in TM and have organized conferences and other programs and activities. As this ease and others illustrate, appellees’ techniques and entrepreneurial undertakings have not gone without controversy.

On September 1, 1989, Diane Hendel, who had, been involved in the TM movement for many years, brought this action against WPEC and MIU, alleging fraud, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of physical injury, and unfair trade practices. Following extensive discovery in related litigation, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment in which they contended that all of Ms. Hen-déis claims were barred by the three-year statute of limitations. See D.C.Code § 12-301(8) (1995).1 A hearing on the motion was held on July 31, 1992. On January 3, 1996, the trial judge issued' a comprehensive opinion in-which he held that the action was time-barred.2

On appeal, Ms. Hendel contends that her complaint was timely under the “discovery rule,” and that, at the very least, there were genuine issues of material fact precluding the entry of summary judgment on the limitations issue. We affirm.

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Hendel was initially introduced to TM in 1971, when, she was a fourteen-year-old junior high school student. As a teenager, she took several TM courses at resident TM centers in Kansas City, Missouri. In or about 1975, Ms. Hendel dropped out of high school, moved out of her parents’ home, and became intensively involved in TM-related activities.

In 1976, Maharishi introduced the TM-Sidhi program, which included many hours a day of sustained meditation, as well as Yogic Flying (ie., strenuous hopping in a cross-legged lotus position). Ms. Hendel participated in this program and claims to have spent four to eight hours per day in meditation for a period of ten years. She travelled to various places in the United States, India and other countries and participated in numerous TM courses, meetings and programs. In 1980 and 1981, she attended TM teacher training in. Switzerland, and she thereafter served as a teacher of TM and as a “Governor of the Age of Enlightenment.” Ms. Hen-[659]*659del discontinued her TM activities in 1988, and she brought this action in the following year.

Ms. Hendel claims that the defendants induced her participation in their programs with numerous misrepresentations. She testified that when she first became involved with the TM movement, the defendants promised that within two or three years she would attain “the state of enlightenment according to Maharishi.” She described that state as “[o]mniscience, harmony in all actions, perfect knowledge.” She alleged in her complaint that, in 1976,

[defendants falsely represented to plaintiff that the knowledge given in [the TM-Sidhi] course would enable her to rapidly develop certain desirable characteristics such as friendliness, happiness, and compassion and attain certain extraordinary powers such as clairvoyance, ability to levitate, ability to fly, invisibility, and superhuman strength. Defendants falsely represented that plaintiff would ultimately become a “Master of Creation” with the ability to manipulate the physical world and the laws of nature.

In her answers to interrogatories, Ms. Hendel further described some of the defendants’ more exotic alleged representations:

Defendants specifically represented that individuals would slowly rise in the air, move forward and gently land, thereby exhibiting control over the laws of nature.
Defendant Mahesh Yogi instructed TM teachers to be bold when making claims for the TM-Sidhi program. In some cases, practitioners were told that people were flying over Lake Lueern. Stories were circulated about people walking through walls, hovering, and becoming invisible.

The defendant’s alleged promises of wonderful rewards for good conduct were accompanied by warnings of baleful consequences if Ms. Hendel and others did not do what they were supposed to do. Ms. Hendel testified, for example, that students were told during teacher training “that we needed to go to bed by 10 o’clock or we would be responsible for World War III.”

Ms. Hendel synopsized defendants’ alleged deceptions as follows:

Defendants claim the practice of TM involves only 20 minutes twice a day, this is not true. Defendants claim the practice of TM requires no change in lifestyle or beliefs, this is not true. Defendants claim the practice of TM has only positive and no negative effects, this is not true. Defendants claim the practice of TM is beneficial for everyone, this is not true. Defendants claim the benefits of TM are scientifically proven, when, in fact, the practice of TM was experimental. . Defendants further claim that TM will improve memory, reduce stress and anxiety, improve health and reverse aging, this is not true.

All of these misrepresentations, according to Ms. Hendel, were made by the defendants with knowledge of their falsity. Ms. Hendel claims that in reliance on the defendants’ false promises, she devoted much of her life to TM programs and activities. She asserts that, as a result, she sustained “severe physical and mental injuries,” and that she lost “substantial amounts of money and time which could have been devoted to productive activity.”3

The defendants do not concede that they made the representations alleged by Ms. Hendel or that any of the representations [660]*660that they did make were false. They contend, however, that if Ms. Hendel’s allegations are taken as true, they reveal that she knew or should have known, prior to September 1, 1986, of defendants’ alleged wrongdoing and of the harm the defendants allegedly caused her. Because Ms. Hendel did not bring the suit until September 1, 1989, and because the parties agree that the three-year statute of limitations applies to all of Ms. Hendel’s claims, the defendants maintain that the complaint is time-barred in its entirety. The trial judge agreed, concluding that “[pjlaintiff was on notice of facts sufficient to bring her fraud claim long before September 1, 1986.”4 This appeal followed.

II.

LEGAL DISCUSSION

A. Summary judgment standard.

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the defendants must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Super Ct. Civ. R. 56(c); Colbert v. Georgetown Univ., 641 A.2d 469, 472 (D.C.1994) (en banc). The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
705 A.2d 656, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 290, 1997 WL 793198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hendel-v-world-plan-executive-council-dc-1997.