Litigating Spiritual Abuse w/Carol Merchasin

Carol Merchasin brings her deep legal experience to McAllister Olivarius, heading up cases involving sexual misconduct in religious, faith-based, and spiritual communities. As an investigator, she has worked to uncover sexual misconduct within the Shambhala International lineage of Buddhism, the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, and is currently assisting other spiritual communities in bringing allegations of sexual misconduct to light. She has worked with survivors of abuse and misconduct across a number of global spiritual and religious movements and has extensive experience as both a litigator and an investigator. Before joining McAllister Olivarius, Carol was a partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius where she was a member of the firm’s employment law practice and the director of Morgan Lewis Resources, providing training on harassment and discrimination as well as investigation services for clients. She has conducted dozens of workplace investigations and taught investigative techniques to human resource professionals at many Fortune 50 companies. She is based in New Jersey and is registered as an attorney with the Massachusetts Bar. In this highly informative and insightful conversation, Carol details some of the promising progress of the legal system here in the US and abroad with regard to prosecuting sexual abuse in spiritual communities. She and Rachel also discuss the many obstacles survivors face in the courtroom and the disappointing failures of the current justice system. Before You Go: Rachel further emphasizes the importance of removing the impediments to justice currently preventing victims of high-control religious groups from their rights to legal recourse. Find out more about Carol and her Law Firm here: https://mcolaw.com/team/carol-merchasin/ You can purchase Rachel's webinar series LIVING IN FREEDOM here: rachelbernsteintherapy.com/webinar.html Thanks to all of our newest Patreon supporters: Desiree Stephens, Roo Roo, Harriet Allen, Jessica Peterson, Calley Heffer, Alexandra Lukasiewicz, Jessica Pritchett, Danielle Gorski, and, Tiffany Meldal-Johnsen!! To help support the show monthly and get bonus episodes, shirts, and tote bags, please visit: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Prefer to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: www.paypal.me/indoctrination You can always help the show for free by leaving a rating on Spotify or a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!