text: HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Hooters is known for their attractive servers and tasty wings, but two men who worked at the establishment claim their male boss sexually harassed them for years. 
   
   “Repeated, intense acts which were intended to cause mental harm to the plaintiffs, to humiliate them, to undermine them,” said Jason Oliver, an attorney who is representing both men. 
   
   Oliver’s clients PJ Cagnina and Scott Peterson filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging multiple instances of harassment. 
   
   One of those instances accuses their boss of throwing one of the men “down to the parking lot ground” and forcibly engaging in simulated sodomy, according to the suit. 
   
   They also claim the defendant would “touch male employee’s buttocks when standing behind them.” 
   
   Oliver says both his clients were Hooters’ managers at multiple locations around the Southland, including downtown Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, and Hollywood. 
   
   They claim they confronted their boss about the behavior and the company investigated him. Within months, he was fired with no explanation as to why. 
   
   But soon after, Peterson was also let go, which his attorney argues was in retaliation. 
   
   “When they stood up to him, they paid the price. They were punished even more in terms of other types of mistreatment,” Oliver said. 
   
   Hooters released a statement that said: “This matter involves a franchised location and its employees in California. We have no independent knowledge of the facts and are therefore unable to comment.” 
   
   Neither men work for Hooters anymore and could not speak with CBS2 on-camera Wednesday night, but Oliver says this is not just about money, but is to want to make sure this kind of behavior doesn’t happen again. ||||| Two men who allege they were sexually harassed by a male boss while working for Hooters are suing the restaurant chain and the supervisor, court papers show. 
   
   The lawsuit filed on behalf of Paul "PJ" Cagnina and Scott Peterson against Hooters and Rick Leukert states that Peterson was fired, but is unclear on Cagnina's current status with the company. 
   
   Their attorney, Jason Oliver, did not immediately return a call for comment. 
   
   The suit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks unspecified damages, as well as a court order directing Hooters to stop allowing sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace. 
   
   Hooters of America released a statement Wednesday in reaction to the lawsuit. 
   
   "This matter involves a franchised location and its employees in California," the statement read. "We have no independent knowledge of the facts and are therefore unable to comment." 
   
   According to the complaint, Leukert was Cagnina's supervisor and CEO at various locations where the plaintiff worked, including Hollywood. After a bikini contest at the Hooters in Costa Mesa, Leukert "threw Mr. Cagnina down to the parking lot" and engaged in a simulated sex act with the plaintiff in front of others, the suit alleges. 
   
   Leukert also "continually tried getting Mr. Cagnina to go skinny dipping with female employees" who were the plaintiff's subordinates, but Cagnina refused, according to the suit. 
   
   Leukert once took the cellphone of a female Hooters general manager Cagnina was dating and viewed "private, intimate photos" of the plaintiff on the device, the complaint alleges. 
   
   While Cagnina was being honored as a new general manager, Leukert said in front of others that he told his assistant to write an unflattering name, "PGay," on the plaintiff's trophy instead of his actual name, the suit alleges. Leukert also referred to Cagnina often as "cagina" because it rhymed with "vagina," the suit states. 
   
   Leukert once started an executive store meeting by asking Cagnina if he "had been impregnating any Hooters' girls lately" and suggested he was the father of an expectant company employee's baby, the suit alleges. 
   
   Peterson alleges Leukert repeatedly touched him in an inappropriate way and talked about him in a sexually demeaning manner during meetings of general managers. Leukert also sent Peterson photos of a female co-worker with whom he claimed to have slept and also told him about a two-year relationship he had with another woman employee, the suit alleges. 
   
   Both Cagnina and Peterson maintained they were retaliated against after they complained about Leukert's alleged misconduct. Peterson says he was ultimately fired. 
   
   Copyright City News Service
target: – It might not be shocking to read that two Hooters employees are suing the company for sexual harassment. But what if we told you the two employees were men? A lawyer for PJ Cagnina and Scott Peterson tells CBS Los Angeles his clients were subjected to years of "repeated, intense acts which were intended to cause mental harm…to humiliate them" at the hands of their former boss while they worked as managers at various Hooters locations in the LA area. The lawsuit claims their boss, Rick Leukert, would inappropriately touch Peterson and talk about him in a sexually demeaning way, NBC Los Angeles reports. It also states he sent Peterson photos of a female employee he claimed to have slept with and would touch Peterson's butt while standing behind him. But according to the lawsuit, Cagnina got the worst of it. It claims Leukert threw him to the ground following a bikini contest and pretended to have sex with him while people watched. It also states Leukert would try to get him to "go skinny dipping with female employees" and ask if he'd impregnated any of them. The lawsuit claims Leukert took a cellphone belonging to Cagnina's girlfriend—a Hooters' manager—and looked at her "intimate photos." It states he had his assistant write "PGay" on a trophy being given to Cagnina and would pronounce his name "Cagina" to rhyme with "vagina." The lawsuit claims Cagnina and Peterson were retaliated against after complaining about Leukert's behavior, with Peterson losing his job. The lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks unspecified damages.