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Woman Sues Employers for Secretly Filming Female Workers in Bathroom

The camera was positioned underneath the sink and pointed directly at the toilet, the lawsuit alleges

A woman who works at an Ontario business has filed a lawsuit against her employer accusing her male managers of secretly filming women in the bathroom and distributing the video.

The lawsuit, filed July 24 in San Bernardino County, alleges that managers at Mentor Media, a computer parts company, installed a hidden USB video camera in the office's co-ed restroom and used it to film women as they undressed and used the restroom.

The camera, which was discovered April 30 by an employee, was positioned beneath the sink and pointed directly at the toilet, the lawsuit said.

Calls to Mentor Media for comment were not returned Friday.

The lawsuit alleges that an IT supervisor in the office "purchased the USB video camera recorder under the directive and blessing of one or each of the Mentor Media Management Employees to facilitate peeping and recording activities."

The plaintiff, who is not named, also claims in the lawsuit that Mentor Media’s security supervisor knew about the secret recordings, did not try to stop them and kept a copy of the recordings on his computer.

The plaintiff was told by Ontario police after an investigation that she and other female co-workers had been filmed.

Mentor Media has about 100 employees, of which 90 percent are women, the plaintiff's attorney said in a statement.

Male co-workers in the office made sexual jokes and comments suggesting they had viewed the videos in front of the plaintiff, the lawsuit alleges.

"Male management employees of the company (were) privy to the video recordings, and on numerous occasions made direct comments to employees and each other about the type of lingerie and color some of the female employees were wearing," Victor Estrada, a spokesman for the woman’s attorney said in a statement.

The woman alleges that after the camera was discovered her employer began implementing new work schedules and closely watching the women who had been filmed. The woman overheard employers trying to find reasons to fire the victims, the lawsuit said.

The woman is suing for an undetermined amount of damages for invasion of privacy, a hostile work environment, failure to prevent harassment and retaliation.

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