A San Francisco-based organization that provides self-improvement programs charged in a $40 million libel suit filed Tuesday that the Cult Awareness Network has labeled the group a cult in leaflets and information provided to the public.
Landmark Education Corp. says in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court that its reputation and business have been damaged because of the information disseminated by the Chicago-based Cult Awareness Network. Cynthia Kisser, director of the Cult Awareness Network, acknowledged that her group provides information to the public about Landmark, but doesn't "knowingly" libel any organization.
Landmark uses programs that were originated by Werner Erhard, a businessman who developed the self-improvement program that became known as est. Erhard himself sued the Cult Awareness Network and CBS in 1992 as a result of a scathing report the network aired about him. Erhard later dropped his lawsuit.
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