A gay man who is suing FremantleMedia North America Inc. and other entities and individuals, alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2024 for complaining of age, gender and sexual orientation discrimination, says he does not recall signing agreements in 2021 and 2022 to arbitrate employment disputes.
Matthew D’Acquisto’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include discrimination, harassment, whistleblower retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
FremantleMedia previously filed a motion to compel arbitration, contending that D’Acquisto signed an arbitration agreement with the parent company in 2021 and affiliate Little Pond Television Inc. the next year.
“Both agreements are valid, enforceable and squarely encompass every claim in this lawsuit,” the FremantleMedia lawyers write in their court papers.
But in a sworn declaration filed July 22 with Judge Michael Small in opposition to the arbitration demand, D’Acquisto says he does not recall signing an arbitration agreement. He says he sent a human resources representative back a password-protected PDF that contained signed copies of most of the forms that she had sent over.
“To the best of my recollection, this PDF did not include an arbitration agreement,” D’Acquisto says.
In addition to addressing the arbitration issue, D’Acquisto says that after he complained in June 2024 to a FremantleMedia vice president about unsafe working conditions he allegedly experienced while at work, the executive derogatorily referred to him as a “diva” in front of other FremantleMedia employees and customers, causing him great embarrassment.
“Diva” originated to refer to over-the-top women and is particularly offensive when used to describe a gay man, based on his understanding as a member of the gay community, D’Acquisto further says
D’Acquisto was hired as the director of gaming systems. Two years later, he created a database to manage game show material and he was to be paid an additional $9,000 per show to allow Fremantle and the others to use the information, his suit states.
In 2022, D’Acquisto was sent to work for on a cruise ship, but management confiscated the plaintiff’s passport and confined him to the ship for an extended period of time, causing him significant anxiety, according to the complaint. D’Acquisto’s complaints to several executives were disregarded and no investigation was ordered, the suit alleges.
A year later D’Acquisto began treatment for skin cancer and said he would need occasional leave time, but instead of being understanding, an executive accused him of trying to make people feel guilty about his condition, the suit states.
“D’Acquisto was deeply offended by this accusation,” the suit filed in April 2025 states.
The executive stripped D’Acquisto of the additional pay he received for the database he created and ordered the plaintiff to assign the rights and interest to his database to Fremantle and the other defendants, the suit states. In addition, last June the executive hired a woman younger than the plaintiff to take over the department he had overseen, the suit further alleges.
D’Acquisto’s suit alleges that throughout his employment Fremantle showed preferential treatment to women, with concerted efforts to hire and train them while their errors were “brushed under the rug.”
The executive called D’Acquisto and another gay employee “divas,” but once again the plaintiff’s complaint was ignored and nothing was done, the suit states. D’Acquisto went on family leave in September and was fired in December, with management telling him they were “going in a different direction,” the suit states.
A hearing on FremantleMedia’s motion to compel arbitration is scheduled Aug. 4.