Kara DioGuardi Blamed for Car Wreck (Even Though She Wasn't There)

Idol vet gets a raw deal as she's caught up in a lawsuit over an accident she had nothing to do with

Talk about hitting a bad note.

Former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is on the receiving end of a civil suit filed by a man who claims he suffered serious neck injury when a BMW driven by another woman smashed into the back of his Porsche last May in Los Angeles.

But here's where it gets interesting. Kara wasn't behind the wheel nor was she even there when it happened!

Per documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by E! News, the plaintiff, identified as Joel Postorino, claims Christina Kline was behind the wheel of the BMW that crashed into him and caused the slipped disc in his neck.

However, the complaint also cites DioGuardi as a defendant because she's registered as a co-owner of the BMW, so Postorino asserts she owes him a whopping $250,000 in damages.

A rep for the famed songwriter did not respond to E! News' request for comment, but did previously tell TMZ the whole thing was just an innocent mix-up.

According to the rep, DioGuardi only agreed to co-sign to help Kline, her former employee, purchase the car; Kline, however, failed to keep her promise to remove DioGuardi's name from the registration. As a result, the former American Idol judge ended up being served with a lawsuit for a mishap she was unaware had even occurred until Thursday.

No word how DioGuardi's gonna write herself out of this one. A hearing on the case is scheduled for July.

Meanwhile, Dioguardi is next set to appear as a judge alongside Jewel on Bravo's new songwriting reality series, Platinum Hit, premiering May 30.