Neighbor Sues Studio Mogul for Millions

Sour notes . . . Trouble with the help . . . Godfather II . . . LAPD’s life in court

Perched on a promontory o’er Benedict Canyon is the 31-acre “hideaway” of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, controlling owner of MGM. Over the years, he has built a hilltop compound by assembling the former estates of Sylvester Stallone, Sonny Bono and Yvette Mimieux.

But it’s what allegedly rolls downhill from Casa Kerkorian that earns it a mention here. A neighbor, claiming that Kerkorian has failed to respond to city reports that his property is causing runoff and erosion problems, has sued the octogenarian financier for $3 million.

The Los Angeles Superior Court suit also claims that Kerkorian’s driveway, which in the past has been compared to a freeway onramp, encroaches on the neighbor’s lots.

Attorney Thomas J. Hanrahan’s suit says homeowner Leland Phelps was forced to move out of his home after it was damaged by slides during last year’s El Nino storms.

Phelps decided to build two new homes on the land. He acquired a partner, took out some loans and went about obtaining the necessary permits, the suit says.

Surveys and other studies identified the source of his problems as his wealthy neighbor’s property. Phelps hit a snag when the Los Angeles Building and Safety Department demanded that a retaining wall be built on Kerkorian’s property to make the Phelps property safe.

Now, the suit states, Phelps is defaulting on his loans while he’s snagged in red tape. A spokesman for Kerkorian could not be reached.

SUING THE LEADER OF THE BAND: There must be a ballad somewhere in this item. A music producer is suing singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg and his accountants, saying they cheated him out of $1 million in royalties.

Martin D. Lewis accuses Fogelberg and the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand, which has since merged with Price Waterhouse, of fraud and breach of contract in court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Lewis claims he was not paid royalties due him when several Fogelberg albums he produced were sold on compact discs. According to the suit, Lewis produced four Fogelberg albums from 1978 to 1992, including 1979’s “Phoenix” and 1980’s “Innocent Age,” each of which went double platinum after being re-released on compact disc in 1995 and 1997.

Lewis claims he has not received a proper accounting. But Fogelberg’s attorney, Edwin F. McPherson, says Lewis has been “accounted to completely and properly from the very beginning.”

DRESSED DOWN: For five years, wardrobe consultant Judita Gomez says, she fluffed and folded, picked out and packed the clothes of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. She says she traveled the world with them, received glowing evaluations and was promised her job was secure.

Cruise, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, told Gomez: “You will always have a job here.” As for Kidman, court papers state she told Gomez “that she loved her, loved working with her and considered her part of the family.”

The lovefest ended when Gomez was fired July 31 without so much as an explanation, Gomez charges. She seeks unspecified damages from the couple and two other employees, Andrea Dovin and Sue Frye, as well as something called the “Client 2177 Living Trust.”

According to court papers, the beginning of the end for Gomez came a week before she was canned. The documents say the Hollywood ubercouple asked her to sign a contract that contained a clause giving them the right to “fire her for any reason”--then, boom!

Now, Gomez complains, she’s “unable to obtain employment” at the same salary she earned while working for Mr. and Mrs. Top Gun, who maintain that there is no basis for the suit.

VIVA LA LUNA: Humberto Luna, the godfather of Spanish radio, can continue doing his comedy thing for KLAX-FM (97.9). A judge in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles denied an injunction request by former employer KTNQ-AM (1020). KTNQ had tried to keep Luna off the rival airwaves until August, when it contends that his five-year contract with that station expires.

UNREAL TV: Robert and Marietta Marich are continuing their legal battle against reality television, this time filing an invasion of privacy suit against the city of Los Angeles.

The Superior Court suit says the couple, who live in Houston, did not consent to a 1997 broadcast of a segment of “LAPD--Life on the Beat.” The broadcast showed the corpse of their son, an aspiring actor who died of an overdose.

The couple claim the television crew recorded officers’ “running commentary” at the scene and their call to the Mariches informing the parents of the death.

The couple are challenging the propriety of the LAPD’s contract with the show, which allows camera crews to ride along with officers and enter crime scenes.

Earlier, the couple filed a similar suit in federal court that was dismissed on procedural grounds.