Women sue Hooters over secret videotaping at job interviews

<p>Five women sued the Atlanta-based Hooters restaurant chain Tuesday because they allegedly were secretly videotaped or photographed while undressing to put on waitress uniforms.</p><p>The women say they were among dozens of applicants for jobs at a new Hooters in suburban West Covina who police say were taped and photographed by the restaurant's manager.</p><p>The Superior Court lawsuit claims Hooters of America was negligent in its supervision of Juan Aponte, 32, of Arcadia, who is no longer employed by the company and has not been arrested or criminally charged.</p><p>The lawsuit seeks unspecified general and compensatory damages and punitive damages, plaintiffs' attorney Gloria Allred said.</p><p>Hooters spokesman Mike McNeil said Hooters has not yet seen the lawsuit but cooperated with police and is not under investigation.</p><p>"It's one person acting outside the scope of company policy," McNeil said, adding that asking any prospective Hooters waitress to try on a uniform "is specifically prohibited."</p><p>The San Gabriel Valley women _ Jacquelyn Anenberg, Elizabeth Navarrete, Scheana Jancan, Brittani Moore and Jenna Underwood _ are also suing Aponte for invasion of privacy and civil battery, for allegedly touching some of them while taking photographs.</p><p>"I'm disgusted just at the way I was violated," Jancan, 18, told a news conference.</p><p>The plaintiffs did not know they were being videotaped while changing, Allred said.</p><p>"Some of them may have seen a camera in the room but had no idea it was taping them," Allred said.</p><p>Aponte's civil attorney, C. Mario Jaramillo, said the battery charges "are completely false" and called the invasion of privacy claims "trumped up."</p><p>"If it wasn't for it being Hooters, there wouldn't be so much heat as a result," Jaramillo said.</p><p>Hooters is a national chain known for waitresses who wear low-cut tank tops and tight shorts.</p><p>In February, authorities raided a trailer on the West Covina construction site of the Hooters restaurant scheduled to open in April. They seized a computer that held 180 digital videos of women, ages 17-25, West Covina police said.</p><p>Police also searched the home of Aponte, who was previously manager of a Hooters in Pasadena.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/3/172646