SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (CNS) — A woman is suing a Santa Clarita chiropractic business, alleging she was secretly recorded with a camera inappropriately placed in the restroom.
Melanie Mora’s proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, targets Fenton Chiropractic Corp. of America, the Joint Chiropractic Management Co. and chiropractor Nicholas Vanderhyde. Also named is CPF Promenade LLC, property owner of the McBean Parkway strip mall where the business is located.
The allegations include invasion of privacy, negligence and unlawful recording of confidential information. Mora seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Joint Chiropractic representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Tuesday.
According to the suit, the concealed cameras were installed in both the men’s and women’s restrooms and were “strategically placed to record patients using the restroom, capturing intimate and private moments” without their knowledge or consent.
“These recordings contain matters of great sensitivity, going to the core of the victims’ privacy rights,” the suit states.
According to the suit, a camera was found in 2023 and Vanderhyde was later arrested on suspicion of possession of obscene matter depicting a minor and for videotaping inside a room.
The defendants further violated the patients’ rights by allowing medical and/or non-medical personnel to view the recordings without making any effort to log or track who viewed them, the suit alleges.
The proposed class of plaintiffs consists of all customers who were secretly recorded using the restrooms at the chiropractic office during the past one to four years, depending on the cause of action, the suit states.
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