Attorneys for a model suing Steven Seagal for sexual harassment have sent a clear message to the actor that he can avoid any testimony about his allegedly “unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal” by settling the case.

The Louisiana property where Steven Seagal allegedly assaulted Kayden Nguyen

A $1 million lawsuit filed in Los Angeles earlier this week is packed full of graphic detail about Seagal's alleged abuse of Kayden Nguyen after he hired her to work for him as an “executive assistant” in February. He treated her as “his sex toy,” the suit says, alleging he assaulted her on three separate occasions in the house outside New Orleans where he was staying while filming a TV show.

Kayden Nguyen

William S. Waldo, an extremely experienced Los Angeles trial lawyer, wrote the complaint. In describing the second of the alleged assaults early on Feb. 24, he says Seagal “began a vicious sexual attack on Ms. Nguyen” after she gave him a leg massage, “forc[ing] his hand into Ms. Nguyen's vagina.”

“As Nguyen began sobbing,” the suit continues, “Mr. Seagal became sexually aroused and had a unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal.”

Here, though, the detail abruptly stops, with Waldo saying only:

Ms. Nguyen can and will describe in great detail Mr. Seagal's physiological reaction to sexual arousal. Other females who have been present when Mr. Seagal has become sexually aroused will be able to verify the truthfulness of Ms. Nguyen's factual knowledge about the characteristics of Mr. Seagal's unique physiological reaction.

Clearly, Waldo doesn't want to spare the prudish — or he wouldn't have included so much detail elsewhere in the complaint. The most likely explanation is that he is trying to leverage a settlement that will spare Seagal the acute embarrassment of having anyone testify about his alleged physiological quirk.

On the evidence of his acting career, Seagal doesn't embarrass easily. And his attorney, famed legal pitbull Marty Singer, has reacted to the suit with predictable outrage.

“The lawsuit filed by Kayden Nguyen against Steven Seagal is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired,” he said in a statement. “The claims in her lawsuit are a complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth.”

Singer also told RadarOnline.com that the suit is a violation of a confidentiality agreement and he would file a motion to compel private arbitration of Nguyen's claims. “It appears her lawyers are more interested in getting publicity than arbitrate the complaint,” he said.

The suit says Nguyen had a brief interview with Seagal in Los Angeles on Feb. 22 before he hired her and whisked her off to New Orleans. On the way to the airport, Nguyen says, the man she was replacing as executive assistant warned her, “You aren't allowed to speak about Steven Seagal,” but there is no mention of any employment agreement.

Waldo isn't showing any signs of backing down. “Please tell Steven Seagal two things,” he wrote Singer in an e-mail. “First, the cheap shot threats that might have intimidated other victims and their lawyers don't phase me. Save your ink. Second, Ms. Nguyen's claims are not going away. Five other victims called me yesterday.”

Nguyen alleges Seagal assaulted her in “a secluded house in the middle of nowhere” in Jean Lafitte, La., a small Cajun village about 20 miles south of New Orleans. As she was making her escape in a taxi cab on Feb. 28, she says, “Mr. Seagal followed a few steps behind, shining a flashlight with a gun attached to it.”

The suit seeks at least $1 million in damages for sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, and wrongful termination. Singer told CBSNews.com that Nguyen was fired for using illegal drugs.

By Matthew Heller
4/16/10