|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Ex-Philly cheerleaders file lawsuit Posted: Thursday August 09, 2001 10:54 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Two former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders filed a federal lawsuit claiming visiting teams repeatedly spied on them as they changed clothes. The cheerleaders' dressing room adjoins the visiting team's locker room, and a door connects the two. At various times, the suit filed Wednesday alleged, the players drilled holes through the door or scratched the paint off a small glass window to see through to the other side. According to the lawsuit, the women learned of the action in January, when The New York Times, citing sources, reported the alleged peeping. The plaintiffs contend that the "ability to peer into the cheerleaders' locker room, and to view them in [various] states of undress, was considered one of the special 'perks' of being a visiting team of the Eagles."
"It was common knowledge among virtually the entire National Football League -- while at the same time a carefully guarded secret to be known only to the players and other team employees of the [visiting] teams -- that these conditions existed," the suit stated. The former cheerleaders -- identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 -- are seeking damages in excess of $75,000 from each of 23 visiting teams and their players and other employees. Between the two of them, the women were Eagles cheerleaders from 1986 to this year. The 23 teams named in the lawsuit all played the Eagles during the 1986-01 time period. The Eagles were not named as defendants. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league could not comment because officials had not seen the lawsuit. Michael McKenna, the plaintiffs' lawyer, did not return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday. Officials from the Eagles and Veterans Stadium also did not return calls. The Times story quoted Marylou Tammaro, director of the cheerleading team, as saying visiting players have tried such actions as drilling holes to see in the women's dressing room. But she maintained they haven't been successful because the cheerleaders take precautions, such as taping over the holes, before every home game. Tammaro told the Times she had repeatedly spoken to city officials about creating a more secure environment for the cheerleaders, but her pleas had been ignored.
|
