Breaking Up, Again

By Michele Orecklin

No doubt preoccupied with projects like her third marriage, JENNIFER LOPEZ failed to forestall a problem that arose from her first. In 1997 Lopez was married to then waiter OJANI NOA for less than a year. In 2002 the singer nevertheless hired him to manage her Pasadena, Calif., restaurant, Madre. According to a lawsuit Noa has filed, Lopez lured him away from his job at an L.A. nightclub by pledging the kind of long-term commitment that eluded their marriage, vowing never to fire him from the restaurant without "good cause." But, alas, six months into his employment Noa was let go, he says, without reason. Now that he has had some time to stew over his dismissal, he is suing his ex for unspecified damages, charging breach of contract.