Former American Idol employee claims Mario Vasquez sexual harassment

American Idol candidate Mario Vasquez resigned from the show two years ago right after he made it into the final twelve. He said that it was due to “family reasons” and that he left before he realized he was in the final. Speculation at the time was that it has something to do with his sexual orientation. Vasquez has since given several other justifications for his departure, including maintaining control of his career and not wanting to be known as just an AI finalist.

The real story behind Vasquez’s abrupt departure may have to do with an incident in a bathroom on the set. A former assistant accountant at the production company running Idol, Magdaleno Olmos, claims that when he was alone in the bathroom with Vasquez the singer dropped his pants, jerked off, and cornered him in an unwanted and forceful sexual advance:

"According to the lawsuit filed 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.”

Olmos tried to tell his superior about his scary encounter with Vazquez, and the guy dismissed him and said his days with the company were numbered. Olmos was canned a few months later, and it’s unclear if that is related to his complaint against Vasquez.

Olmos is now suing Mario Vasquez, FOX Entertainment and the production company he was working for, Fremantle Media.

If this story is true, and I personally don’t doubt it, the production company at least should have to pay this guy for his supervisor’s failure to take the allegations seriously and escalate them up the chain of command, which violated the law.

It’s doubtful that Vasquez will be able to pay any kind of just settlement to Olmos. He has the second lowest album sales among former Idol contestants, only besting Corey Clark. William Hung has sold more records.