Ex-Idol Employee Sues Show, Mario Vazquez
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Written by: NewsToob | Mar 13, 2007 | 0 comments |
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You may remember that American Idol contestant Mario Vazquez surprisingly quit the singing competition two years ago, citing personal reasons. I mean, I don't, but I didn't really watch the show, but mabye you do. Anyhow, in a lawsuit filed in LA on Friday, a former assistant production accountant for the show alleges Vazquez sexually harassed him and that he was later fired for telling a supervisor.
Magdaleno Olmos is specifically suing for wrongful termination and violation of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act and is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Mario Vazquez, American Idol Productions Inc., Fox Entertainment Group Inc., and Fox Broadcasting Co. are all named as defendants.
Vazquez was the only Idol finalist to ever drop out, and he had been very vague on his departure, with comments such as "I just needed to take care of some things in my life that needed to be focused on."
In his lawsuit, Olmos claims the fourth-season contestant withdrew from the show after the accountant came forward to executives. The suit also describes in detail an incident in which Vazquez allegedly followed Olmos into a restroom at CBS Studios, where "American Idol" is taped, and "knocked on the door of the plaintiff's stall and made eye contact through the space in the stall door." Vazquez then did his rendition of I will always Love You. O.k., I made that part up, but when he opened the door, Vazquez became physical with Olmos and asked if he wanted to have sex, according to the lawsuit.
Olmos claims he later went to a supervisor and sang like a bird, but his supervisor questioned whether he initiated the incident. He was allegedly told by the company that nothing could be done, that he would probably be fired, "that he was crazy, was imagining this and should keep this information to himself because no one would believe his account," according to his lawsuit.
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