Several prospective mediums have filed a lawsuit seeking admittance to serve as mediums in the Lily Dale Assembly.

Barbara Robinson, Linda Struble and Natalie Scobercea, all dues-paying members of the Lily Dale Assembly, filed their suit recently in state Supreme Court in Mayville claiming they have been barred from practicing inside Lily Dale’s gates over a disagreement over the score necessary to be qualified as one of the assembly’s mediums. Those who want to be mediums have to complete an application process to Lily Dale and then become registered by Lily Dale. Robinson, Struble and Scobercea are spitirualists who say they completed the application processes, but have not been allowed to practice at Lily Dale because of a disagreement over combined evaluations.

“As a result of (Lily Dale’s) breach, Robinson, Struble and Scobercea suffered monetary damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but not limited to foreseeable, natural and probably damages in the form of lost fees that would have been earned by Robinson, Struble and Scobercea had they been granted status,” attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan of Dorsey & Whitney LLP in New York City wrote in the complaint.

The plaintiffs say they were told be Lily Dale they needed an 82% success rate on combined evaluations, defined as the number of times a candidate can conclusively show they engaged the spirit world during readings with individuals. Lily Dale said the passing rate is actually 85% and denied Robinson, Struble and Scobercea licenses to work at Lily Dale. In addition to losing out on business inside Lily Dale’s gates, they say they are losing out on business outside the center because ties to Lily Dale lead to additional client demand throughout the region. According to the lawsuit filing, registered mediums can earn between $180 and $500 an hour for their services.

Robinson, Struble and Scobercea say they were given an membership guide in May 2022 that showed prospective mediums had to complete 25 outdoor services and two Monday Night circles and pay a non-refundable $150 fee to Lily Dale to be considered for status as a registered medium. Meetings with the Lily Dale board and the Lily Dale Mediums’ League are also required. The membership guide further states additional evaluations occur for which an 82% on the combined evaluations is needed to pass, while the plaintiffs point to several other Lily Dale documents that also refer to an 82% passing score on the combined evaluations. After performing mediumship services throughout 2022 without compensation, Robinson, Struble and Scobercea were told in April 2023 that their applications for mediumship had been denied because they didn’t score over 85% on the combined evaluation. Robinson scored an 82.6%, Scobercea scored an 83.10% and Struble scored an 84.2%. All three were told to take the combined evaluations again this fall.

Now, the women allege they have faced retaliation from Lily Dale board members, with Scobercea told in May that if she consulted with an attorney she would never become a registered medium at Lily Dale while a former board president allegedly told Scobercea that the current Lily Dale board intended to revoke the memberships of Scobercea and Robinson as a precursor to taking their homes at Lily Dale because they had been raising complaints.

“Upon information and belief, correspondence from counsel for Robinson, Struble and Scobercea that had been sent to the board members (only) was shared at a social gathering to the evident amusement of those present,” Colangelo-Bryan wrote in his filing.