The Latest on the Sexual Harassment Scandal

Here’s the latest on the sexual harassment lawsuit filed last week…

Magdaleno Olmos’ lawyer, Matt Matern, is now speaking out. Here’s what he told “Access Hollywood” about Mario Vazquez’s departure from the show…

The executive producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, and the attorneys for “American Idol” met with Olmos to find out what happened and then interviewed Mario. They brought Olmos back for a second interview and Lythgoe told Olmos “We know that this happened and we are going to let Mario Vasquez go, and you’re going to stay.” Matern added, “I believe [Mario’s departure] was not voluntary in any way shape or form.”

Matern also said that because of the alleged harassment, Olmos asked to see a psychologist. But according to Olmos, the only psychologist the show would allow him to see was the one previously seen by Mario (I presume this is the famous “Idol psychiatrist” we just learned about through Sundance.). Matern said Olmos was fired following “an incident” when Olmos said he was going to see a doctor and he was told he “was not excused to go see this doctor.”

According to Matern, the only reason Olmos was fired was because “he complained about being sexually harassed and his supervisor and the ‘American Idol’ people didn’t want him there.”

The lawsuit comes in just under the wire for the two-year statute of limitations on wrongful termination lawsuits in the state of California. So why the delay? As Jim already speculated, settlement talks had stalled, according to Mahern. He said that the attorneys for the production companies and “Idol” had encouraged Olmos to go after Mario since he was “the wrongdoer;” but then said it was a “consensual relationship” and they were not liable. Matern said it was this “contradiction” that led to the breakdown in negotiations.

Mario’s attorney has yet to comment…

A New Scandal

And here I was looking forward to a quiet day today. Thanks to Derek for the heads-up…

A new “Idol” scandal has emerged—not about one of the top 12, but about a former contestant from season four that we never really got answers about.

I have always referred to Mario Vasquez as “He Who Shall Not Be Named” since I felt he used the show to further his career and then quit to avoid its stringent contract. I never felt that was quite fair.

But now a lawsuit claims that there were other reasons for Mario’s shocking and sudden departure…

Magdaleno Olmos, a former “Idol” production assistant, has sued Mario Vasquez and “American Idol” for sexual harassment and for firing him for reporting his claims.

The lawsuit alleges that Vasquez left the show after the accusations came to light. Olmos states that people with the show demanded that he not tell anyone about the incident, including his own family. He was fired in May 2005, at the end of the fourth season.

Since I consider this a family blog, I won’t go into details about what the lawsuit alleges Vasquez did. I’ll only say that one alleged incident involved Vasquez following Olmos into the restroom. If you want to read all the sordid details for yourself, you can visit http://www.accesshollywood.com/pdf/MarioVazquezLawsuitWatermark.pdf.

I’m usually a little skeptical about lawsuits that take so long to surface, but this one I’m not sure about. We’ll see what happens from here…