Kobe Bryant suing former employee

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant are suing a former housekeeper for talking to the media after she filed a lawsuit alleging she was forced to pick up dog feces and subjected to other humiliating treatment at the couple’s Newport Coast home.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, claims Maria Jimenez, a Peruvian immigrant who worked for the Bryants as a housekeeper in 2007 and 2008, broke a confidentiality agreement when she spoke to dozens of news outlets earlier this year about alleged mistreatment she endured while working for the couple.

Now the Bryants’ lawyers want a list of every news organization that Jimenez and her lawyer have come in contact with, which includes media outlets from as far away as Spain and Peru, said attorney William Vogeler, who represents Jimenez.

Jimenez was well treated while she worked at the family’s Newport Coast home, the Bryants claim in their lawsuit.

“Jimenez frequently shared family meals with the Bryants and their family, and the Bryants gave Jimenez expensive gifts as a token of their gratitude,” the Bryants claim in legal documents. “When Jimenez asked for time off work to visit her family in Peru on the anniversary of her mother’s death, Mrs. Bryant gladly provided a paid leave of absence and even paid Jimenez’s round-trip airfare to Peru.”

Vogeler said his client is telling the truth about the abusive treatment she allegedly endured at the hands of Vanessa Bryant. The Bryants are trying to silence Jimenez because of the negative media attention the lawsuit has cast on them, he said.

“The Bryants claim they treated Maria Jimenez with the utmost respect, yet they want to silence her about it,” Vogeler said. “Fortunately, my client has a 1st Amendment right to talk.”

The Bryants are asking the court to stop Jimenez from talking to the media, they also are seeking damages and legal fees, according to their complaint.

Jimenez sued the Bryants in March, alleging Vanessa Bryant demanded she put her hand in a bag of dog feces and constantly verbally abused her.

Jimenez, who worked for Kobe and Vanessa Bryant as a housekeeper for about seven months at the couple’s Newport Coast home, claims Vanessa Bryant “badgered, harassed and humiliated” her, according to a wrongful discharge lawsuit filed March 20 in Orange County Superior Court.

Vanessa Bryant called Jimenez “slow” and “lazy,” although she worked 60 hours a week at the Bryant home, according to the lawsuit. She also accused Jimenez of stealing clothing, a toy and other personal items from the home, according to the complaint.