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2 Female Employees Sue 'Superman Returns' Producer

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Dec 26, 2007 10:47 am US/Pacific

2 Female Employees Sue 'Superman Returns' Producer

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Jon Peters produced the blockbuster hit "Superman Returns."
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"Superman Returns" producer Jon Peters was sued by two of his female former employees for firing both, allegedly because one refused to have an abortion and the other for refusing his sexual advances, according to court papers obtained Wednesday.

Blanca Hernandez and Adriana Silveira filed the lawsuits Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. They are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Donna Mo, an attorney representing Peters in a case brought by Shelly Morita -- an ex-personal assistant who sued him for sexual harassment a year ago -- was not immediately available for comment.

According to Silveira's suit, she and her husband were hired by Peters to maintain his home and office in Malibu. She began to work for him in December 2005 and her husband was hired three months later, the suit states.

Silveira became pregnant in June 2006 and was fired less than a week afterward, the suit states.

A month later, Peters told Andrew Silveira that if he wanted to keep his job the best thing his wife could do would be to have an abortion, the suit states.

When the Silveiras refused to terminate her pregnancy, Peters was notified two weeks later by e-mail that he was fired, the suit states.

In her suit, Hernandez maintains she was hired by Peters in July 2005 for the same duties as the Silveiras and that the producer sexually harassed her daily.

Peters touched the woman in a sexual way, tried to push her into bed while he was naked, called her breasts pillows and offered her money for sex, the suit states.

When Hernandez complained to her boss, Ronald Grigg, he fired her in July 2006, telling her that it was what Peters wanted and that if she complained, "her and her daughter would be murdered," according to her suit.

After Hernandez filed a complaint against Peters with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, he accused her of stealing a $10,000 lamp, her suit states. She is also suing him for defamation.

Morita's suit against Peters was filed in December 2006 and is scheduled for trial April 21. She alleges he fondled her and crawled into bed with her in an Australian hotel during the 2005 filming of "Superman Returns."

Peters, a 62-year-old former hairdresser, inspired the character portrayed by Warren Beatty in "Shampoo."