A former Hooters waitress is appealing a federal judge's decision to knock $250,000 off a $275,000 sexual harassment award.

        Sarah Steinhoff,, 24, of Clifton filed an appeal Friday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Her suit was against Upriver Restaurant Joint Venture, which owns the Hooters restaurant in Newport, where she worked from August 1996 through 1997.

        At the end of a three-day trial in July, a jury of five women and four men awarded her $250,000 in punitive damages and $25,000 in compensatory damages.

        Ms. Steinhoff had testified that she suffered unwanted sexual advances, demeaning behavior and recrimination from two of the restaurant's managers. She said they tried to force her to go home with them, and one threatened to tie her up.

        Other former waitresses testified that the managers made waitresses perform in the restaurant's “Friday Night Football” bikini contest as a means of discipline.

        The supervisors never testified.

        But last week, U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman said Ms. Steinhoff deserved only compensatory damages. He said he rejected the punitive damages award because:

        • Trial evidence hadn't proved that Hooters managers harassed her maliciously or with reckless indifference.

        • The chain made a good faith effort to stop sexual harassment and couldn't be held liable for its managers' actions.

        • The restaurant posted a sexual harassment policy near the waitresses' schedules. A toll-free number was listed to anonymously report harassment.

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