Lolita Harper
COSTA MESA -- Two county health department officers who over the past
few years have had numerous encounters with a Costa Mesa religious sect
have filed suit against the leader of the group and a former member,
alleging they were libeled in newspaper ads and newsletters.
Officers Karen Newe and Bruce Freeman of the Orange County Health Care
Agency claim the Piecemakers made public statements that caused them to
suffer "loss of their reputation, shame, mortification and hurt
feelings," according to a lawsuit filed in October.
Marie Kolasinski, the outspoken leader of the Piecemakers, and Anne
Sorenson were named as defendants. Sorenson has since left the
Piecemakers and was unavailable for comment.
Newe and Freeman could not be reached Monday, and their attorney, John
Gulino, did not return repeated calls.
Howard Sutter, a spokesman for the health department where Newe and
Freeman work, said the agency was aware of the lawsuit but is not
directly involved.
The Piecemaker Country Store, at 1720 Adams Ave., has been fighting
court battles with the health department since 1992 and was on probation
for three years for past health-code violations. Regular, unannounced
inspections were part of the probationary terms, which led to a great
deal of anger by many members of the Piecemakers.
Kolasinski believed Newe and Freeman were harassing the members of her
group and blasted the two officers in her periodic newsletter and in an
advertisement that appeared in the Los Angeles Times Orange County
edition, she said.
In a Piecemakers newsletter from November 2000, Kolasinski called Newe
and Freeman "two rapists" who violated the group's constitutional rights
by entering the store and citing them for code violations.
On Nov. 29, the Times ran the advertisement placed by the Piecemakers
that called officials from the health care agency "martian reptiles."
Newe and Freeman claim their friends, family members, neighbors,
associates and employers read the publications that accused the two
officers of improper and immoral conduct, the lawsuit stated.
"I called them rapists because by the time they left here [after
investigations], we were totally undone," Kolasinski said. "We don't
mince words. We were so angry and upset and disillusioned as to what kind
of people govern this society."
Phil Putman, the attorney representing Kolasinski and the Piecemakers,
chalks up the language to simple name calling. He said his client was
upset and letting off steam by using metaphors.
