Arrival of baby upends model's endorsement contract.

GABRIELLE Reece, the 33-year-old former professional volleyball player-turned-model, has sued two nutritional supplement companies for ending her endorsement contract a month after discovering she was pregnant.

Reece, now the mother of a daughter, sued Consac Industries Inc. and Tea Tree Solutions LLC in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging various civil rights violations, unfair business practices and emotional distress.

The relationship between the two entities, both housed in the same Hauppauge, N.Y., offices, was not clear. The suit also named Ryan Drexler and Jodi Billet, identified as principal executives of both companies, and Daron Watts, a partner in the L.A. office of Sidley Austin Brown & Woods, who represented the companies in their effort to terminate the contract.

Watts did not return calls seeking comment. Calls to Consac and Tea Tree were not returned.

The suit says Reece signed a two-year deal in which she allowed the companies to use her name and likeness and agreed to appear on behalf of two nutritional supplement products, GlucoLean and Lean Results, beginning Aug. 1, 2002.

Her lawyer, Gregory Helmer, a partner at Helmer & Friedman LLP, said the companies terminated the contract in June, just weeks after her manager informed them of her pregnancy.

According to the suit, Watts said Reece's pregnancy prevented her from making personal appearances, traveling and "appearing in model physical condition at health and beauty shows."

No damage amount was cited in the suit, but Helmer said Reece has suffered "substantial" monetary damages in lost royalties and other work she gave up during the contract period.

Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at [phone] ext. 225, or at [e-mail].