DraftFCB's Boschetto Remains Plagued by Bogus Priest Sex Suit

(MoneyWatch)  A bizarre lawsuit alleging that DraftFCB CEO Laurence Boschetto took part in the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal has again reared its head even though the suit has long been dismissed with prejudice.

MyTwoCensus.com, a watchdog blog devoted to news about the U.S. Census, repeated the allegations in the suit yesterday. The blog also suggests that the Census should not have hired the agency for its $200 million account because it was kicked out of the Walmart review after it gave gifts to former client exec Julie Roehm.

The suit has been known in the advertising world for years, but little has been written about it because the allegations seemed so flimsy. It alleges that Boschetto was a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers in the early 1970s and that he abused the plaintiff, Robert Hoatson, who was ultimately fired from his job as director of a Newark Catholic school.

A federal judge dismissed the case in February 2007, fined the lawyer who filed it $8,000, and ordered him not to bring it again. (He appealed.) The judge also noted that Boschetto was never served in the case -- even though he's a named defendant -- and that the complaint was littered with errors, including the plagiarism of several passages from other suits that were also dismissed. The judge wrote:

This intent to humiliate and embarrass is further manifested in the amended complaint which is littered with wholly irrelevant, inflammatory, and embarrassing facts concerning defendants and non-defendants alike that have no bearing on the actions brought...

Nonetheless, MyTwoCensus argues:

Ostensibly the bidding/selection process for this $200 million contract took place while the firm was in the news for its less than positive dealings, which makes one wonder why they were selected over companies that weren't plagued by scandals.

• You can read the ruling dismissing the case here.