East St. Louis — A strip club in Sauget claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that a former employee, fired for punching a customer, later used inside information to recruit dancers and top customers for a rival.

The case was filed in federal court in East St. Louis by IRC LP, on behalf of its Penthouse Club, against the former director of the its VIP room, Michael P. McLean.

It says McLean now works for the Hollywood Showclub in Washington Park.

According to the allegations, Penthouse hired McLean in late 2004 and fired him on Feb. 9, 2009, for punching a customer despite the club’s “no punch policy.”

The suit says that since his dismissal, McLean violated a confidentiality agreement and noncompete clause of his contract by getting a job at Hollywood and using the valuable information and training he got at Penthouse to recruit strippers and VIPs.

The roughly 170 current VIPs paid Penthouse $1,500 to join and a yearly fee of $1,000, the suit says. McLean also had information about promotions planned at Penthouse and four sister clubs.

McLean, who answered the phone at the Hollywood club Tuesday afternoon, said he could not comment on the suit.

It asks a judge to order McLean to return any information taken from Penthouse, to keep what he knows confidential and not to work at other clubs within 25 miles of its affiliates for a year. It also asks that he be prohibited from recruiting Penthouse customers or entertainers.