A lot of people told me they had missed this story. But XBiz.com reported this week that director Bobby Manila and his company Climax 9 Productions hit Brazzers with a fraud and breach of contract lawsuit.

The complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Brazzers aka Mansef Productions offered Manila a lucrative three-year exclusive contract as a pretext for getting Manila to train others in his shooting style.

Manila’s attorney Gary Jay Kaufman told XBIZ that after signing the director to a one-year service agreement for 40 scenes a month in June 2007, Brazzers was so impressed with Manila’s work that it sought to keep Manila from working for competitors through a long-term, exclusive contract.

Manila accepted the offer in late 2007 and committed himself exclusively to Brazzers for at least the next three years that raised his fee from $28,000 to $40,000 per month, according to the lawsuit.

According to Kaufman, Brazzers trumped up bogus excuses to terminate Manila’s contract. They then offered him a replacement contract for a shorter term. Kaufman called it, “a ridiculously transparent cost-cutting move.”

Manila was terminated in June. The suit seeks at least $1.2 million, plus attorneys fees.