Romanucci & Blandin files civil lawsuit against Addison, Illinois ice cream shop and owner for secretly videotaping eleven teenage girls in bathroom while they were working

Lawsuit details shop owner required female employees to change clothes for marketing photos, made unwelcome physical advances and offered them alcohol and marijuana

(CHICAGO, October 23, 2025) – The male owner of a Chicago suburban ice cream shop used the appearance of a family-friendly business as a front to entice teenage girls to work there. He required them to undress and change clothes in the store’s bathroom while secretly videotaping them, crossed personal boundaries by touching their hair, rubbing their backs, and making inappropriate contact with their buttocks, and asked them to take an online “purity test” and share the results with him. This behavior went on for at least five years, from 2021 to 2025. A new civil lawsuit has been filed on behalf of eleven former female employees who were between fourteen and seventeen years old at the time and are now disgusted and deeply harmed by the exploitation they experienced on the job.

The law firm of Romanucci & Blandin announces the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of these teenagers. One of the plaintiffs is also represented by Ben Crump Law.

Case Background

The ice cream shop, Flavor Frenzy at 48 W. Lake Street in Addison, was an unsafe and unlawful place of business, particularly for young girls. Defendant Steven Weisberg, the owner and operator of Flavor Frenzy, used the business as a vehicle to recruit, exploit, and endanger minor female employees. Weisberg instructed all female employees that their work uniform consisted of a shirt and tight black pants and required them to model Flavor Frenzy t-shirts or other apparel for purported website photographs.

Unbeknownst to Plaintiffs, Weisberg installed a hidden camera disguised as an electrical outlet in the store’s only restroom. Weisberg required minor employees to repeatedly change clothing in that restroom, purportedly for business marketing purposes—often supplying bras and Flavor Frenzy-branded garments—to secretly record them in states of undress.

Weisberg Controlled the Teenage Girls’ Uniforms & Secretly Videotaped Them

• Weisberg instructed the female employees that bras should not be visible outside their shirts unless the bra matched the top being worn.
• When employees wore tank tops, Weisberg provided them with “matching” bras and directed that the straps be shown.
• In other cases, Weisberg insisted that employees either not wear a bra or wear a strapless bra provided by him.
• Weisberg then directed employees to change shirts in the restroom under these conditions, while secretly videotaping them.

Weisberg Engaged in Additional Exploitative Conduct

• He intentionally cultivated personal relationships with minor female employees by asking them questions about their personal lives, calling and texting them outside of work, and discussing personal matters during work shifts.
• He exploited his position of authority over minor female employees by admonishing a minor employee for wearing pants that were not sufficiently tight-fitting, claiming the outfit violated the dress code.
• He offered alcohol and marijuana gummies to underage employees who were working on behalf of the shop at festivals.
• He instructed minor female employees to take an online “purity test,” later questioning them about their results. Weisberg’s inquiries into these test results were invasive, inappropriate, and sexual in nature, further demonstrating his exploitation of his position of authority to subject minor employees to humiliating and improper conduct.

Weisberg also expressed a desire to hire high school girls with large breasts to work on a “Lemonade Shakeup” promotion.

Further, on multiple occasions, Flavor Frenzy withheld wages owed to employees and/or paid them at rates below the minimum wage required under Illinois and federal law. By withholding wages and paying below minimum wage, the defendants increased the vulnerability of minor employees, reinforcing Weisberg’s control over them and discouraging them from reporting misconduct or leaving their jobs.

In September 2025, a DuPage County grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Weisberg with sixty-six counts of Child Pornography and thirty-two counts of Unauthorized Video Recording, confirming the systematic nature of his exploitation at Flavor Frenzy. Weisberg’s pre-trial release was denied, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Civil Lawsuit Details

The civil lawsuit was filed on October 22, 2025, in the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois, County Department Law Division. The eleven female Plaintiffs are all under Jane Doe pseudonyms. The Defendants include Flavor Frenzy, LLC and shop owner and operator Steven Weisberg.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs are Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci, Managing and Senior Partner Gina A. DeBoni, and Senior Attorneys Patrick A. Huber and Maura D. White from Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. Civil Rights Attorneys Ben Crump and Brooke Cluse from Ben Crump Law also jointly represent one of the named plaintiffs.

Counts in the lawsuit include:

• COUNT I – INTRUSION UPON SECLUSION
• COUNT II – INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
• COUNT III – ILLINOIS GENDER VIOLENCE ACT (740 ILCS 82/1 et seq.)
• COUNT IV – BATTERY
• COUNT V – NEGLIGENCE
• COUNT VI – SEXUAL HARASSMENT/HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
  • (Against All Defendants under the Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/2-101 et seq.)

“There is little that is more wholesome than a high school job scooping ice cream at a local shop, but for our eleven teenage clients, this deceptively pleasant part-time job turned into manipulation, exploitation, shame, distrust, disrespect, and disbelief. These girls were as young as fourteen years old when Steven Weisberg told them they needed to take off their shirts and bras to model for him and the shop, only to secretly expose them and their bodies to his hidden video camera,” said Antonio M. Romanucci, Founding Partner of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. “And the sprinkles on top of his abuse of these girls was his texting them outside of work, telling them to take an online ‘purity test’ and asking them about the results, and also touching them in unwanted ways on their hair, backs and buttocks. We will do everything we can to get accountability from this individual, who was a predator to these girls.”

“The manipulation of teenage girls by this employer and business owner is absolutely disgusting. He abused his position of authority and repeatedly convinced high school girls they needed to change their shirts and bras in the store bathroom as part of their employment to be photographed for shop marketing purposes. These brave teenage girls are now going to hold him accountable for the trauma and deep distress he has caused in each of them,” said Managing and Senior Partner Gina A. DeBoni, Romanucci & Blandin, LLC.

“For these girls, what should have been a joyful first job at an ice cream shop became an experience of betrayal and exploitation,” said Senior Attorney Patrick A. Huber of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. “A 50-year-old man and the business he ran failed these young employees in every possible way. He used his position and his store to manipulate and exploit teenage girls who trusted him. He turned what should have been a safe workplace into one of fear and humiliation. These girls—and their families—deserved so much more. We will fight relentlessly to hold both this individual and his business accountable and to deliver the justice they all deserve."

ABOUT ROMANUCCI & BLANDIN, LLC

Romanucci & Blandin is a Chicago-based national trial practice committed to fighting for victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death through impact litigation. For more than 25 years, we have secured more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for our clients - many for millions of dollars or record-setting awards. Our experience ranges from mass shootings, civil rights and police misconduct to medical malpractice, sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents or workplace injury cases involving individual or institutional negligence. Romanucci & Blandin is a valuable legal resource to individuals and groups of people who have been injured by others’ wrongdoing. Referring attorneys and clients say several factors distinguish our firm: Our record of success, depth of experience, talented and dedicated legal team, tireless preparation, and strategic use of communications to fight for the rights of those whose lives have been changed forever. We differ from other personal injury firms in that our work does not stop when a verdict or settlement is secured. Our clients’ experiences often inspire us to commit resources to transforming lives and communities. For more information about Romanucci & Blandin, please visit: www.rblaw.net. 

ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW

Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.