Former “American Idol” finalist Mario Vasquez is facing accusations that he tried to masturbate in front of a male employee in a bathroom on the set of the hit show in February 2005.
Shortly thereafter, Vasquez mysteriously dropped out of “Idol,” citing personal reasons.
According to the lawsuitfiled in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by TMZ, Vazquez allegedly “sexually harassed” Magdaleno Olmos, assistant accountant for Fremantle Media, the company that produces American Idol.
In the lawsuit, Olmos claims “Vazquez stared lasciviously, smiled lasciviously … and on one occasion followed him into a bathroom … knocked on the door of the plaintiff’s stall and made eye contact through the space in the stall door.”
The lawsuit alleges that Vazquez “started to rub his genitals over his pants. Attempting to leave the bathroom, Olmos opened the door of the stall and saw Vazquez standing in front of him with his pants down masturbating.”
According to the documents, Vazquez pushed Olmos “further into the stall and continued masturbating with one hand and trying to pull down Olmos’ pants with another hand.”
Olmos claims that he tried to “cover his body with his hands” but Vazquez touched his “chest and stomach underneath his shirt, and Olmos’ “genitals” as Vazquez “attempted to unzip” Olmos’ pants.
Vazquez then allegedly asked Olmos “if he wanted oral sex.”
In the lawsuit, Olmos claims that as he “managed to get out of the stall, and attempted to leave the bathroom,” Vazquez, grabbed his arm “in an effort to stop him.” Vazquez continued to call Olmos to come back as Vazquez “stood in the bathroom with his pants still down.”
In the suit, Olmos claims that he tried to report the incident to a superior named Eric LaPointe, who allegedly responded by telling Olmos that “he was crazy” and “repeatedly threatening to fire” him. A few months after the incident, Olmos claims he was “terminated.”
In addition to suing Vazquez, Olmos has named FOX Entertainment and Fremantle Media as defendants in his lawsuit for wrongful termination.
Calls to Vazquez’s attorney, and reps from “American Idol” on behalf of the defendants, have not yet been returned.
(via TMZ)