By Elaine Silvestrini
of The Tampa Tribune

     TAMPA - A federal jury on Friday order the former owners of Rio Bravo restaurant chain to pay $1.5 million to five former employees who sued for sexual harassment.

The women, who worked as waitresses and hostesses in the chain's Clearwater restaurant, alleged they were repeatedly harassed by an assistant manager, who subjected the women to "leg checks" and "panty checks" before their shifts, touching their legs to ensure they were smoothly shaved and their buttocks to make sure he approved of the panties they wore.

The defendants, Innovative Restaurant Concepts and Rio Bravo International, sued the assistant manager, Rob Evans. The jury ordered Evans to pay $50,000 to the companies, which sold the restaurant in 1999, lawyers said.

All told, the jury ordered the corporations to pay $10,000 to each of five women: Sheri Calvo, Veronica Ferek, Melissa Scarborough, Renee Brown and Leslie Cuccinotta. In addition, three of the women - Calvo, Ferek and Brown - won $50,000 in punitive damages.

Tommy Roebig, who along with his partner, Chris Gray, represented four of the women, said the plaintiffs were elated at the verdicts, which capped a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich.

Roebig said Evans would lock the women in a linen closet, where he would kiss and grope them.

"If you wanted to get a good shift, he wanted to have a sexual encounter with you," Roebig said. If you wanted to leave at a particular time, you had to sit on his lap and give him a kiss. If you wanted a good table to serve, he wanted a hug and a kiss."

Roebig said the conduct began at least in early 1996 and continued until Evans was fired in March 1998.

Evans' attorney, Mark G. Rodriguez, said his client "denied most of the activity involved, "and maintains that the restaurant was fault because it "failed to have a sexual harassment policy in place."

"The few things he may have done are not the cause of the majority of the damages," Rodriguez said. "The damages stem from Rio Bravo ignoring what happened."

Peter W. Zinober, who represented the companies during the trail, said the plaintiffs asked the jury to award each of them between $1 million and $5 million, and had valued the case before the trail at 4.5 million, plus attorneys' fees. "It puts (the verdict) into perspective," Zinober said.

Zinobert referred most questions to corporate counsel Bob Steinkamp. "Obviously as a defendant, there's an appeal right," he said.

Asked about the defense during the trail, Steinkamp said, "We believe we responded in an appropriate, timely manner. The plaintiffs took the position that we did not. That was part of the crux of their case and part of the crux of our defense…The defense also consisted of, in essence a general denial of the facts that the plaintiff was putting forth.