Hardee's Cashiers Win Lawsuit Over Strip Search

HARRISBURG, Ill. - A jury awarded $900,000 to four female cashiers who sued Hardee's Food Systems after they were strip-searched by managers looking for a missing $50.

Connie Toothman, Gennifer Dismuke, Nena Sherrod and Krista Boardman said managers Judy Rochford and Kim Thompson ordered them into a back room at a Hardee's in 1992 and forced them to remove items of clothing to prove they had not taken the money.

An attorney for the cashiers, Walden Morris, said the money had been deposited at a bank.

Each of the four women, ages 18 to 20 at the time of the incident, was awarded $200,475 in punitive damages and $25,000 in compensatory damages. Their lawsuit claimed they were wrongfully accused, humiliated and exposed to public disgrace.

Hardee's spokeswoman Sharon Hamilton said the fast-food chain planned to appeal the ruling.