LONDON: A British stunt double for actress Angelina Jolie sued News Corp., alleging the media company hired private investigators to access her mobile phone voice-mail messages to seek information for news stories.

The lawsuit is the first News Corp. has faced in the United States by someone claiming to have been a target of phone hacking, according to a person familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Eunice Huthart of Liverpool, England, contends the intercepts occurred while she was working in California in 2004 and 2005, according to the complaint filed June 13 in federal court in Los Angeles.

News Corp.’s Sun and News of the World newspapers engaged in phone hacking “to publish and exploit news articles concerning the private and confidential affairs” of individuals “to boost circulation and thereby increase profits,” Huthart said in court papers.