Acclaimed guitarist Carlos Santana is gearing up for a legal battle, after being hit with a lawsuit from his former personal assistant.

Santana was allegedly rough in his treatment of BRUCE KUHLMAN, who claims in court documents that the MARIA, MARIA hitmaker and his wife DEBORAH dismissed him because of his age, gender and religion - and avoided paying him a $250,000 (GBP131,578) bonus.

Kuhlman's lawsuit details a bizarre practice allegedly used by Santana's spouse, in which she consulted a spiritualist named DR DAN who would "calibrate employees' consciousness".

Santana's spokesman tells US TV show CELEBRITY JUSTICE, "We never comment on pending litigation."

23/04/2005 01:40