Vivian Zink/BRAVOJeff Lewis is flipping angry.
The Flipping Out and Interior Therapy star is suing his longtime executive assistant, Jenni Pulos, to prevent her from publishing a book that he alleges would blab details of his personal life and trade secrets that she's been privy to in the 10-plus years they've worked together.
Much of which appears to be documented by the aforementioned Bravo shows, but he asserts that she's not allowed to rehash anything.
In the lawsuit filed yesterday and obtained by E! News, Lewis claims that Pulos told him that she was working on a memoir about her life and family, but that through an Internet search he discovered the working title was Hang in There, Baby—What One of the World's Most Difficult Bosses Taught Me About Life, Work and Love and it was due out next year. (Amazon has it listed, sans any cover art, for Aug. 20, 2013.)
Citing nondisclosure agreements Pulos signed in 2008 and again in 2010, Lewis' lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to his girl Friday and her agents, but the only thing they did, the suit claims, was shorten the title to Hang in There, Baby!.
Lewis says Pulos' agents then advised her not to show him a copy of the manuscript when he asked to see it earlier this month.
He's seeking a permanent injunction against the publication-for-profit of any facts pertaining to him, his business and his personal and professional conduct.
"The publishing of the book with such information will constitute a breach of the [nondisclosure] Agreement," the suit contends. Lewis is also looking to be reimbursed for his legal fees.
Nowhere in the suit is Pulos referred to as a former employee, nor has there been any word on what this conflict may mean for her and Lewis' professional future together. The sixth season of Flipping Out is currently airing on Bravo. (Bravo and E! Online are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)