The Hooters case...
Does anyone remember this case a couple of years ago?
NBC 4
Women Who Claim They Were Secretly Videotaped Sue Hooters
Restaurant Chain Being Sued For Negligent Supervision
POSTED: 4:36 pm PST March 30, 2004
UPDATED: 6:31 pm PST March 30, 2004
LOS ANGELES -- Five women who claim they were secretly videotaped while changing into Hooters uniforms as part of job interviews sued the restaurant chain Tuesday, which disavowed the actions of a former employee.
Hooters Girls Secretly Taped
Hooters is an Atlanta-based chain with hundreds of locations throughout the nation and in other countries. It is known for its scantily clad waitresses who wear white, low-cut tank tops and orange shorts. The West Covina restaurant was scheduled to open sometime next month.
West Covina police say nearly 200 women, ages 17 to 25, were allegedly taped without their knowledge from November to February in a trailer on the Hooters construction site on Garvey Avenue.
Last month detectives, acting on suspicions of some of the women, found 180 videos of naked and partly naked women on the computer of former Hooters manager Juan Aponte. About 80 women appeared on the videos.
Aponte, a 32-year-old from Arcadia, has not been charged, but police said they hoped to present a case to prosecutors soon. Authorities have said Hooters is not being investigated criminally and has been cooperative.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jacquelyn Anenberg, Elizabeth Navarrete, Scheana Jancan, and Brittani Moore and Jenna Underwood, both of whom claim they were 17 at the time of the alleged incident.
Aponte is named as a defendant in the invasion of privacy suit, along with Hooters of America, which is being sued for negligent supervision.
Mike McNeil of Hooters said he could not comment on the suit because the company had not been served with it.
"But we can say that Hooters has been commended by the West Covina police, who said thanks to our cooperation, they were able to confiscate the tapes. They are not available on the Internet," he said.
The computer Aponte allegedly used did not belong to Hooters, McNeil said.
"All the equipment was owned by one individual, who is no longer employed by Hooters," McNeil said. The incident has been "characterized by police as the conduct of one individual, not of Hooters."
McNeil added that asking a prospective job candidate to try on the uniform "is specifically prohibited. It's against company policy."
"It's one person acting outside the scope of company policy," McNeil said. "We're not really sure why Hooters is being sued, but we look forward to seeing the suit and trying to go from there."
According to the plaintiffs, Aponte asked the women to try on the skimpy uniform so he could "make sure you're comfortable in it" and took photos of them for their "personnel files."
But the plaintiffs "later discovered that without their consent ... Aponte had videotaped and/or photographed (them) while (they were) disrobing and changing into the Hooters uniform," the suit states.
Aponte also faces a civil battery claim for allegedly touching some of the plaintiffs while taking photographs.
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