Cher testifies in accountant's wrongful termination lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Cher testified in an accountant's wrongful termination lawsuit that she was shocked by his legal action against her.

''I just thought it was nuts,'' she said Monday. ''I was pretty flabbergasted.''

Wearing black slacks and a pink suit jacket, Cher took the witness stand for the first time in the case filed by Salvatore Sampino.

The singer-actress answered questions presented by Sampino's attorney, William Bloch, and admitted in the courtroom that she found Sampino to be ''flamboyant and amusing.''

''I think he tried hard to make me laugh and feel good,'' she said.

As for how Cher felt about the lawsuit, the entertainer said it surprised her.

''I was astonished by the things that it said, and how virulent the attack on me personally was,'' she said.

Sampino, 40, alleges he was wrongfully terminated in May 2000 for noting labor violations, including the hiring of illegal immigrants during the renovation of the star's Malibu mansion.

S. Jerome Mandel, the attorney representing Cher and the construction management companies hired to work on the home, has said Sampino never uttered a word about how workers were being treated.

The defense also has argued that Sampino never worked for Cher but for Artemis Design and Consulting, the principal contractor on the home project.

Sampino, 40, is seeking unspecified damages for wrongful termination, retaliation, sexual harassment, defamation, unfair competition, negligence and unpaid wages.