By Cristy Fajardo
Westwood, CA (KCAL/KCBS) - A former employee is suing a Los Angeles-area sports bar after she says she was forced to wear a skimpy uniform and was subjected to sexual harassment.
The lawsuit alleges the 23-year-old was fired after she complained.
A former bartender at a popular UCLA hangout alleges she was humiliated, objectified, and sexually harassed at O'Hara's. But it wasn't drunken patrons misbehaving. She says it was a co-owner and manager.
Now she's suing, seeking unspecified damages.
"They just can't treat people like this. What's right is right and this was not fair," said Courtney Scaramella.
Scaramella worked at the bar for four and a half years and says she never had any problems.
Then back in October, the suit alleges management introduced a new dress code for female employees to boost sales; a mini-skirt held together by a strip of Velcro.
What's more, she and her attorney, Toni Jaramilla, say managers placed fans on the floor near the registers.
"The fans would blow up the skirts and expose their bottoms," said Jaramilla.
"It was embarrassing. It was uncomfortable," said Scaramella.
She says she was also bothered by another bar policy, rating female patrons on a scale of one to ten. Women scoring a six got free shots. She says no other employees complained, but she took it a step further, putting her concerns on paper and sent it to the owner.
The new dress code was dropped, but she says her hours were cut and days later she was fired.
"We are absolutely convinced and positive that that was the reason why she was let go because of her complaints," said Jaramilla.
"She was not fired, she quit," said Roger H. Licht, O'Hara Bar's attorney.
Licht filed an answer to Scaramella's lawsuit, calling it baseless.
"They run a first class operation, deals with a lot of UCLA students. Its reputation to the community is very important to it and they plan on fighting this all the way to the end to prove that the claims are baseless," said Licht.
Scaramella though insists witnesses, including several managers will prove she's telling the truth and Licht will have a chance to cross-examine them.
He says his clients plan to fight the suit in court and his clients have no plans to offer a settlement.
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