Women sue Hooters for secretly filming them while they undressed
By Lisa Sweetingham, Court TV
(Court TV) —
More than 40 women who had hopes of becoming Hooters Girls say they were
secretly filmed while undressing, according to a civil suit filed against
the national restaurant chain in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Represented by renowned women's-rights attorney Gloria Allred, the women
accuse the company of invasion of privacy, sexual discrimination and
harassment, as well as negligent supervision of a Hooters employee. They are
seeking unspecified damages.
"I'm disgusted in the way that I was violated and that my privacy was
invaded," said Scheana Jancan, one of the original five litigants. "I am
disappointed that I put my trust in someone who betrayed my rights and
violated me."
Juan Aponte, the former Hooters manager at the center of the allegations,
faces a civil battery claim for reportedly touching some of the plaintiffs
and commenting on their bodies during the interviews. Aponte has not been arrested, but a police investigation is expected to
wrap up this week, when he'll likely face formal criminal charges. His
attorney, C. Mario Jaramillo, did not return calls for comment. Hooters Girls As the manager of a new Hooters restaurant in West Covina, Calif.,
Aponte, 32, was in charge of hiring the Hooters Girls — the typically
buxom waitresses in skimpy orange shorts and tank tops who serve hot wings
and cold beer to the chain's mostly male patrons. Aponte interviewed dozens of Hooters hopefuls from November 2003 to
February 2004 in a trailer that was served as a makeshift office during the
restaurant's construction. According to police, he asked the women for much
more than details about their waitressing experience. As a condition of employment, Aponte told the women they first had to try
on the Hooters uniform. After handing an applicant a pair of used tan
nylons, orange shorts and a white tank top, he stepped outside the trailer,
apparently to give her privacy to change. After a few minutes, he returned
to take snapshots for her application file. Call it female intuition, but when two women independently reported to
police that they felt they might have been secretly videotaped while
undressing, detectives launched an investigation that is stirring up a mess
of legal trouble for Hooters of America. In late February, investigators seized three computers from that
now-infamous trailer and from Aponte's home in Arcadia. Aponte's personal
laptop computer contained an extensive collection of girls on film: 180 mpeg
files — video and audio recordings — of 82 Hooters applicants in
various states of undress. "I've never come across anything like this in the past," said Corporal
Rudy Lopez, a 22-year veteran of the department. "It's a shock to a lot of
us here." Shady Interviews According to investigators, Aponte placed a handheld digital camera on a
desk in the trailer where applicants where asked to change. Some women saw
the camera, but weren't aware it was on or may not have known that many
digital cameras also have video-recording capabilities. Police said the detail-oriented manager saved each video file using the
girl's first name, and marked photos in their personnel files with a full
name, a method that ultimately helped detectives track down all 82
women. For the past two weeks, detectives have been knocking on doors and
confronting the victims, who range in age from 17 to 25. Detectives decided
not to show the women their videos, instead revealing photos captured from
the recordings for ID purposes. "They were emotionally stricken," Lopez said. "A lot of them cried, it
was very embarrassing for them. Some of these women still live at home with
their parents, and they were equally shocked." Scheana Jancan, an 18-year-old communications major from Azusa, was one
of those women had to share the ordeal with her parents. "My mom cried. She was really upset that something like this could happen
to her daughter," Jancan said. "My Dad is just really mad. I think he
thought I was too trusting." Jancan, a petite, brown-eyed blond is one of the original five litigants
who spoke at a press conference last week with attorney Allred. Since then,
Allred said that about 40 more women with similar stories of shady
interviews have joined the suit. "They were simply looking for jobs," Allred said. "But as a result of
their harrowing experience … they have been embarrassed, humiliated
and emotionally violated." For its part, Hooters said Aponte's interviewing procedures were a gross
violation of company policy. "Normally, employees fill out an application, we take their personal
history, do a background check," said Justin Johl, attorney for the West
Covina Hooters. "If they're hired, they report to an orientation where
there's training on company policies and procedures. Only after that do they
get their uniforms." "It was kind of strange" In November, Jancan, who currently waits tables at a country club, was
excited to learn that a Hooters was replacing the former Charley Brown's
located in West Covina's Restaurant Row. "I thought it would be a place where I could get some extra hours in
addition to the job I have now," Jancan said. She met Aponte face-to-face
for her first interview. "He seemed nice and professional," Jancan said. "But I just thought it
was kind of strange that I had to come back that night to try on the
uniform." Aponte told Jancan that he was so busy with interviews that she would
need to return after-hours to model the outfit for him. She came back at
6:15 p.m., and, like the others, was secretly videotaped as she changed. According to the women, before Aponte stepped outside the trailer, he
instructed them on where to stand when they disrobed. "Some were told that the reason they had to stand in a particular spot
was to make sure that construction workers passing by the trailer would not
be able to see them," Allred said. "[They] were also told that they should not wear underwear in which their
panty line could be seen, insinuating that no panties or a G-string would be
preferable under the Hooters shorts." Some of the women, according to
Allred, "were touched by the manager without their consent as he adjusted
their uniforms." All of the original five litigants were hired by Hooters before learning
through press reports or from detectives that they had been videotaped. Although Jancan, who hopes to be a reporter one day, said a job at
Hooters is out of the question now, some women intend to report to work when
the restaurant opens in May. "The police have given my name to a lot of women," Johl said. "I have
received several calls from women who were videotaped, who say their anger
and frustration is not with Hooters, but with Mr. Aponte." Johl did not identify these women, citing potential privacy issues. Police said Hooters has been very cooperative with the ongoing
investigation. Aponte was fired, files and videotapes are in the possession
of the authorities, and Johl said the company intends to address the
incident with additional employee training. "This was the intentional act of one employee," Johl said. "We're pretty
upset. But the problem is when someone commits an intentional act like that,
there's not much you can do." Allred, however, argues the company should be held responsible. "We think these women had a reasonable expectation of privacy," Allred
said. "It's against the law in California to secretly videotape employees
while they're changing clothes, and there's no exception in the law for
Hooters."
