Lawyers told the Daily Report that defendant Jeffrey Glatstein has filed his own lawsuit against two former employees, one of whom is the plaintiff, after at least three women filed lawsuits alleging that Sherman, of Georgia, sexually assaulted them “under the guise of offering healing or help.”
The case is being pitted between lawyers from Burkhalter Law Firm, which is handling Glatstein’s plaintiffs’ case, and litigation lawyers from Beale, Sutherland, Berlin & Brown, which is managing the separate Cobb and Fulton County cases involving Sherman.
“We have filed a motion to dismiss the case under Georgia’s anti-SLAPP law,” Drew Beal, a partner at the law firm Beal, Sutherland, Berlin & Brown, told the Daily Report. “His lawsuit is nothing more than a strategic attempt to limit their freedom of expression.”
“He wanted to cure her of her ‘sexual trauma'”
(Clockwise from top left) Rachel Berlin Benjamin, Mirinda Brown, Brian J. Sutherland and Drew Beal of Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown in Atlanta. (Photo provided)Beale is partnering with firm colleagues Rachel Berlin Benjamin, Mirinda Brown and Brian Sutherland to handle the plaintiffs’ lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court by Micah Davis and Jacqueline Wigdor.
In a joint complaint filed on October 26 against Glatstein and East Laboratories, Davis and Wigdor allege sexual assault and battery by Glatstein, and indirect liability, condonation and negligence by East.
According to the lawsuit, “EAST Institute claimed to offer a ‘structured entheogenic medicine program designed to promote profound changes in a person’s psychological, emotional and spiritual state for the benefit of overall health and wellness.'”
“EAST holds ‘healing ceremonies,’ where participants are given psychedelic substances described as ‘plant therapies,’ and ‘facilitators’ offer a variety of purported ‘healing modalities,’ including ‘vibrational sound therapy,’ ‘shamanic therapy,’ and ‘energy therapy,'” the lawsuit reads. “EAST’s clients pay more than $1,500 to attend these ceremonies, and ‘facilitators’ pay even larger fees for ‘training’ to lead the ceremonies.”
Video: Glatstein talks about “energy imbalances”
As the complaint alleges, both Davis and Wigdor paid to attend training to become facilitators. Glatstein hired Wigdor to work for EAST after the training, but “then failed to pay her wages for all the hours she worked and instead attempted to compensate her with positive attention and praise for her dedication to the ‘EAST Method,'” the Fulton County plaintiffs’ complaint states.
The joint complaint also outlines instances in which both women were allegedly sexually assaulted during “one-on-one mental and emotional therapy sessions” conducted by Glatstein, called “energy wellness sessions.”
“Specifically, Wigdor alleges that Glatstein told her he wanted to work with her ‘sexual trauma’ and ‘sexual energy,’ asked her to remove her clothing during the session, and attempted to ‘calm her down’ by caressing her body and between her legs, wrapping his arms around her groin and pressing his fingers against her tailbone,” the lawsuit alleges. “Similarly, Davis alleges that despite knowing about her past trauma, Glatstein exploited her vulnerability by rubbing her breasts and nipples and touching her vagina during ‘energy healing sessions.'”
The plaintiffs allege that because EAST knew of Glatstein’s alleged “sexual assault and violence” and “sexual predatory behavior toward women,” the company, founded by Sherman and his wife, Lena Franklin, “negligently supervised Glatstein, failed to arbitrate for Plaintiffs, and negligently employed him, thereby condoning, tolerating and employing his conduct and becoming liable for its negligent supervision and employment of Glatstein.”
However, the suspicions did not end there.
Wigdor also alleged that Glatstein breached fiduciary duties he owed to her after assuming the role of trustee of her trust.
“Mr. Glatstein negligently and willfully breached these duties by acting in that capacity while maintaining irreconcilable conflicts of interest with her, overcharging her for services that were not authorized or agreed to, carelessly commingling her other funds with her trust assets, and resigning as trustee before allowing her to select a replacement trustee,” the complaint alleges.
As of Wednesday, Glatt StationNo attorney was on the record assigned to Judge Jane Berwick in the Fulton County Superior Court case, nor did he file an answer to the joint complaint.
However, Glatstein has retained Atlanta-based Burkhalter Law Firm to serve as counsel in a separate Fulton County Superior Court lawsuit over an unresolved contract dispute with former East Laboratories employee Nat Brown. According to Glatstein’s complaint, filed Oct. 4, within 18 months of ending his employment with East Laboratories, Brown “contacted current employees of the company to encourage them to resign” and “informed students… [and] “We ask our customers to stop receiving services from Yeast Laboratories.”
“Within two years after his employment with East Laboratories was terminated, Defendant Brown provided or attempted to provide services both individually and through a competing entity he founded, Mestana Collective.“East Laboratories is currently or will hereafter engage in such business in the mental health, health and wellness industry within the geographic area of Georgia,” Glatstein’s complaint alleges.
“False and defamatory statements”
Brian Burkhalter, April Freeman and Patrick Ewing of the Burkhalter Law Firm are representing Glatstein in a lawsuit in Cobb County Superior Court against former employee Natalie Mangiarasina for allegedly violating her employment contract.
From left: Brian Burkhalter, April Freeman and Patrick Ewing of Burkhalter Law Firm. (Photo provided)In his verified complaint, filed Sept. 29, Glatstein alleged that Mangiarasina verbally communicated his intention to “retire from East Laboratories effective Sept. 18, 2023” after undergoing training at EAST and becoming its digital marketing manager.
Around the same time, Glatstein alleges, Mangiaratina exported a “database” containing contact information for East Institute students and clients onto his own computer and used it for the purpose of contacting and soliciting them to make “false and defamatory statements about East Institute and Plaintiff Glatstein.”
Glatstein alleged that Mangiarachina not only shared “confidential, trade secret, and/or proprietary information,” but also made “false and defamatory statements” to third parties that the plaintiff “engaged in non-consensual contact, acted unprofessionally, and/or behaved unethically while providing services.”
“Sexual Boundaries”
Because Glatstein’s Burkhalter law firm did not respond to requests for comment, Beale, Sutherland, Berlin & Brown, the law firm representing Mangiaratina in her defense and counterclaim, focused on the ethical guidelines published on EAST’s website. In filings in defense of their client, the four law firms noted that the company’s code of ethics includes a section on “sexual boundaries,” explaining that “EAST will not ‘promote, respond to, or permit sexual contact with participants,'” and that “[s] “Clear professional boundaries”
“However, none of these ethical pillars were adhered to at EAST,” Mangiaratina’s response and counterclaim state. “Instead, they sent threatening ‘cease and desist’ letters to Ms. Mangiaratina and other women who made such allegations and filed false defamatory accusations in an attempt to silence them.”
Mangiaratina’s lawyers countered by filing a motion to dismiss the anti-SLAPP lawsuit, arguing that Glatstein’s lawsuit violates their client’s protected speech. The lawyers also denied that Mangiaratina violated Sherman’s company rules as alleged.
“There is a special statute that requires a motion to dismiss under the SLAPP Act to be heard within 60 days of the filing of an answer, so a hearing is expected soon,” Beal told the Daily Report. “The successful party gets their attorney’s fees. It is not up to the judge to decide whether there was bad faith or good faith.”
Beal said that after a preliminary evidentiary hearing, Senior Judge George H. Krieger of Cobb County Superior Court denied Glatstein’s request for a restraining order against Mangiaratina, allowing the case to continue.
