Credit counseling agency defends Internet website

Grace Leong

Monday, Oct. 15, 2001 | 9:44 a.m.

If it's OK for Budweiser to put a commercial on prime time with a bikini-clad woman promoting its beer, is it wrong for a credit assistance agency to advertise on an Internet website featuring bikini-clad models?

That's a question posed by an attorney for Credit Counseling Centers of America, a Richardson, Texas-based credit assistance agency that's been accused of requiring several former employees at its Southern Nevada office to work on what they say is a pornographic website operated by the company.

The company, which has a branch office in Henderson and is a target of three sexual harassment lawsuits pending in Las Vegas courts, denies operating a pornographic website.

But the company acknowledged it did set up a non-nude models' website to advertise its credit assistance services after several surveys it conducted showed that people with bad credit also tend to enjoy looking at girls in bikinis.

At least five employees allege in lawsuits they were threatened with termination or retaliated against for refusing to work on the website.

Cynthia Phelps, a former Credit Counseling computer technician who sued the company, alleged she was consistently subjected to "unwelcome computer images of a sexual nature and a hostile work environment" when she was forced to repair computers displaying allegedly pornographic images at work and at the home of Credit Counseling President Arthur Posa.

But Michael Ryan, Credit Counseling's attorney, said the issue in dispute isn't over the alleged pornography and that in fact the website is not pornographic. He said the dispute is really over how the company advertises its services.

"When we asked the plaintiffs, during deposition, they said they didn't take offense to the photos but took offense at what they thought was a bad business decision. They felt Credit Counseling shouldn't be advertising in this manner," he said.

"Is it legally wrong for the company to target its audience who happen to go to such websites?" Ryan asked. "If we put the Credit Counseling ad in a Playboy magazine, does that make it wrong? The fact is, sex sells. Advertising in the Wall Street Journal won't work in this case."

But that's beside the point, argued Patrick Chapin, attorney for some of the workers.

He said Posa violated his fiduciary duty as an executive officer when he used Credit Counseling's funds and employees to promote his "independent extracurricular adult photography side business."

"He would say that he used the porn website to help Credit Counseling. But he's getting recognition in that industry, building name recognition and using Credit Counseling personnel and funds, which is against his fiduciary duty as an executive officer," he said.

"We don't care if business increased ten-fold. The point is people felt the work environment was permeated with inappropriate adult material," he said. "The fact is the employees were unhappy with being forced to work in such an environment and they were retaliated against when they complained."

But Ryan said the disputed website, www.looksandstyles.com, isn't operated by Credit Counseling, even though it was set up by Posa and several Credit Counseling employees.

He said the website was given to a third party on condition that the Credit Counseling advertisement remains on the website.

He said Posa, an amateur photographer who displays his own personal R-rated photography on a website called "www.alexhunter.com," created the Alex Hunter name to distance himself from Credit Counseling and didn't use the website to promote the company.

Chapin said the plaintiffs were hired under the guise that this is a non-profit credit assistance agency and forced to be involved in the development and production of adult content material.

"(Some) are programmers and developers of the Internet website. They thought they were being hired to do graphics layout for Credit Counseling," he said.

Jason Burrows, Phelps' attorney, said Phelps, who discovered computer files with allegedly pornographic material while maintaining the company's computer network, alleged she was fired after she joined in a company investigation of the complaints.

But Ryan denied that allegation and said she wasn't exposed to pornography.