AUBURN – A double-murder defendant is suing Androscoggin County Jail, saying his civil rights were violated when women guards were able to see him while he took showers.

Gary Gauthier, 25, of Auburn claims see-through curtains enable women guards to peek at male inmates as they shower. Gauthier filed the lawsuit in Androscoggin County Superior Court after a district judge dismissed the case.

Gauthier, who was being housed at Cumberland County Jail in Portland as of Monday, is representing himself in his civil suit.

The complaint makes additional claims alleging poor treatment. For example, Gauthier says he was transported in the middle of the night by county police with no explanation for the trip.

Gauthier’s complaint says he was “treated unfairly and discriminated against due to the nature of my charges” and statements reportedly made to police by a co-defendant who is an inmate at the Auburn jail.

John Wall, a Portland lawyer who is representing the jail, said his office had taken only a cursory look at Gauthier’s complaint.

“It’s pretty cryptic,” Wall said. “We’re not sure exactly where he’s coming from in his claims.”

Gauthier’s co-defendant in the murder case is Thomas Dyer, 21, also of Auburn. The two men are scheduled to go to trial Monday in Androscoggin County Superior Court in the fatal beatings of John Graffam, 30, and James Vining, 43, in September 2005.