Lawsuit: Suburban ice cream shop owner preyed on teenage girls

The suburban ice cream shop owner accused of secretly recording teenage employees undressing is facing another round of litigation from his former workers.

Eleven female ex-employees between 14 and 17 years old sued Steven M. Weisberg in DuPage County court Wednesday on counts including sexual harassment, battery, intrusion upon seclusion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The claims stem from Weisberg’s operation of his Flavor Frenzy shop in Addison, where authorities allege he used a camera hidden in a bathroom to record unclothed female workers.

“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,” plaintiffs’ attorney Antonio M. Romanucci said in an announcement of the litigation Thursday. “We will do everything we can to get accountability from this individual, who was a predator to these girls.”

Weisberg, 58, of Buffalo Grove, is in custody at the DuPage County jail awaiting trial on charges of child pornography and unauthorized video recording. He has pleaded not guilty and appeared in court Thursday, when a judge continued the case to Nov. 19.

Besides the secret video recording, the plaintiffs’ attorneys allege Weisberg touched the workers’ hair, rubbed their backs, made inappropriate contact with their buttocks and asked them to take an online “purity test” and share the results with him.

He insisted that employees either not wear a bra or wear a strapless bra provided by him; directed them to change shirts in the restroom while secretly videotaping them; offered alcohol and marijuana gummies to underage employees; and cultivated personal relationships with minor female employees, the plaintiffs claim.

The behavior went on for at least five years, from 2021 to 2025, according to the plaintiffs.

“The manipulation of teenage girls by this employer and business owner is absolutely disgusting,” plaintiffs’ attorney Gina A. DeBoni said in the announcement. “These brave teenage girls are now going to hold him accountable for the trauma and deep distress he has caused in each of them.”

The litigation comes about six weeks after another former employee sued Weisberg in Cook County court.