Three models are suing an Akron strip club for using their scantily clad images to promote the club — without their permission.

Jessica Hinton, Lina Posada and Rhian Sugden recently filed the lawsuit in Summit County Common Pleas Court against Crystal Cuisine, the owner of Hush Cabaret, a club located at 1027 E. Waterloo Road.

The lawsuit claims Hush Cabaret used images of the models on its Facebook page between August 2017 and February 2019 to promote the club and its events. The suit says the models never worked for the club, never gave permission for their images to be used and were not compensated for the use of the images.

The suit is the latest in dozens filed across the country targeting strip clubs that use photos of models to attract customers. The suits claim the images make it falsely appear that the models work at the clubs, according to an NBC Chicago story.

Hinton, Posada and Sugden are well-known professional models, with Hinton and Posada living in California and Sugden residing in the United Kingdom, according to the lawsuit.

Hush Cabaret describes itself as an “upscale men’s club” that provides “only the best in entertainment from our beautiful ladies to our live bands.” The club promotes its activities and events on its website and Facebook page.

The club used an image of Hinton dressed in a cheerleader uniform to promote football events, of Posada dressed in lingerie to promote a grand opening event, and of Sugden dressed in a short Santa dress, standing next to a similarly clad model, to promote a Christmas party, according to the lawsuit, which includes copies of the images.

The lawsuit claims the use of the images was an invasion of privacy and a deceptive trade practice and caused “irreparable harm and economic and non-economic damages to the plaintiffs, their reputations and brands” by associating them with a “disreputable” establishment.

The models are seeking an injunction requiring Hush Cabaret to remove their images from Facebook and prohibiting the club from using the images in the future. They also are asking for compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees.

Akron attorney Jack Morrison Jr., the attorney for Hush Cabaret, didn’t return messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.

David Harman, a Cincinnati attorney representing the models, declined to comment.

The lawsuit is assigned to Judge Alison McCarty.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.