Matlock star David Del Rio initiated legal proceedings against CBS Studios over his termination from the popular legal drama due to sexual assault allegations.
Del Rio, 38, who played Billy Martinez on the show, filed an arbitration claim against his former employer five months after he was written off the show due to allegations by co-star Leah Lewis.
CBS reportedly “fired and escorted” Del Rio off-set the same day that Lewis, 29, filed a report about an alleged incident in his trailer a week prior, according to Deadline. Paramount has also scrubbed all photos of the actor from their press website.
Del Rio’s high-profile attorney, Shawn Holley, told the Daily Beast that the actor’s claim addresses the “false and misleading allegations that caused substantial professional and reputational harm.”
The actor’s contract with CBS requires him to go through private arbitration rather than file a public lawsuit.
In the private process, Holley said that her client will “present real-time text communications and evidence that directly contradicts prior public characterizations of the interaction at issue.”
“This evidence was not fully considered before adverse employment action was taken,” she added in the statement.
“CBS Studios is declining comment as we do not comment on legal matters, but as previously confirmed, David Del Rio has departed the series,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
Del Rio’s absence was immediately addressed by the show in its midseason premiere in February, when an HR rep asks where Billy is. Lewis’ character, Sarah, responds, “Out sick. Very, very sick. Vomiting.”
“And we’ve got him covered,” Cathy Bates’ titular character adds.
Del Rio had already recorded seven episodes for the show’s second season before he was fired.
Lewis alluded to the incident in a now-deleted Instagram story a week after her co-star was terminated, which included an on-set photo with her mother.
“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please, let that be the takeaway,” she wrote.
Del Rio’s wife, Katherine, mocked the post with two of her own, one showing a close-up of Lewis’s face and another parodying the actress’s photo and statement.
“This is the most disturbing human I have ever met,” she wrote over a zoomed-in photo of Lewis.
“Mom is here. We are moving forward in love and strength after what Leah did to our family. Thank you all for the love and support,” she wrote in the other, according to screenshots by PageSix.
Katherine Del Rio has since deleted both posts.
