The first two of what could be many such lawsuits have been filed against “self-help by sweating” guru James Arthur Ray, with a survivor of his sweat lodge ceremony in the Arizona desert alleging he prevented her from leaving before she passed out.

Of the roughly 60 people who took part in the Oct. 8 ceremony offered by Ray as part of a five-day Spiritual Warrior program at a retreat center near Sedona, three died and more than 20 suffered breathing difficulties, vomiting and other symptoms. The ceremony took place in a 415-square-foot enclosure covered with blankets and tarps.

News reports have said Ray stood by the door of the enclosure. But in one of the two premises liability lawsuits filed Oct. 30 in Coconino County (Ariz.) Superior Court, survivor Sidney Spencer goes further, alleging Ray and unnamed employees were

negligent in denying participants, like the Plaintiff, from exiting the lodge when they became uncomfortable and instead intimidating them and cajoling them to not leave the sweat lodge despite the excessive heat and fumes.

Spencer, 59, was treated in a Flagstaff hospital for kidney failure. Her complaint also says the defendants deprived her of food, water and hydration during the three days before the sweat lodge ceremony.

The family of Lizbeth Neuman, a Minnesota woman who died Oct. 17 of multiple organ failure after participating in the ceremony, filed the other suit.

The Spiritual Warrior event (which costs $9,695 a person) is one of six expensive programs in Ray's Journey of Power Experience. All program participants are required to sign a waiver of liability which says, “I am fully aware that I may suffer physical, emotional, financial and other injury during any of the activities.”

But under Arizona law, a waiver does not protect against gross negligence. And Spencer could certainly argue Ray was grossly negligent in not allowing her to leave the ceremony.

She makes numerous other allegations of negligence, among them that the defendants:

• “ignored her even after she lost consciousness in the sweat lodge” and failed to provide her with timely medical care.

• constructed the sweat lodge without adequate ventilation, light, or a temperature monitoring device.

• conducted the ceremony without a licensed health provider in the sweat lodge.

• had too many people in the sweat lodge at the same time, “making it impossible to properly monitor their health.”

A case for gross negligence may also be supported by Spencer's allegation that Ray knew of the risk because “Defendants had similar experience in running a sweat lodge in the past where participants had passed out and otherwise suffered physical injury.”

She appears to be referring to an incident at the same Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center in October 2005 when paramedics treated a 42-year-old man who had lost consciousness after spending time in a sweat lodge.

“Defendants were aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that Sidney Spencer's injuries would result from her participation in the 'sweat lodge' ceremony,” she alleges.

Neuman's family do not claim anyone stopped her from leaving the sweat lodge.

By Matthew Heller
11/1/09