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Waitress sues strip club

R S Shankar

Anita Chandra had no qualms of working as a waitress in a strip club, but she says she would not allow the club to strip her of her dignity.

For months after she was hired, the club demanded -- according to court papers -- that she and other waitresses wear skintight, stomach-revealing tank tops and hotpants.

She refused. But when the Beverly Hills club, Déjà vu, fired her, the twenty-something waitress decided to fight it out.

She joined two other waitresses in similar circumstances and filed a suit, asserting that they refused to wear skimpy clothes because they were afraid of being sexually harassed by the patrons. They say they knew they worked for a "gentleman's club," but they also contended in court papers that they were hired to serve food and drinks and not to expose their anatomy. They were dismissed in December.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages for discrimination, unlawful retaliation and wrongful termination, contends the male waiters were not required to wear skimpy uniforms.

Calls to the club on Wednesday and Thursday were not answered.

"We know when women wear that kind of clothing, what kind of reaction it provokes," attorney Lisa Bloom told the media. "We know that if women have their buttocks hanging out, they are going to get lewd comments and remarks, and maybe worse from the male customers."

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