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5-Year-Old Sues Starbucks Over Perv's Camera In Bathroom
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 24, 2011
Modified Sep 24, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 24, 2011
Modified Sep 24, 2011
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It's bad enough when an adult finds a camera hidden in the bathroom of a Starbucks. But when a five-year-old makes the discovery, it is the stuff of possible trauma—and million-dollar lawsuits. A little girl is suing the coffee chain corporation for compensatory and punitive damages, citing "invasion of privacy, negligence, negligent hiring, training and supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress" over incident at a Washington, D.C. Starbucks.
WUSA reports, "Apparently the unisex restrooms at the Penn Quarter Starbucks seem to attract the perverts. The little girl went with her family to use the bathroom there and when she got up to wash her hands, she noticed a camera tucked under the sink and pointed right at the toilet." Her mother told the news station, "It's completely unethical. It's disgusting. And the fact that the manager didn't know what to do. 'I don't know, would you like a free coffee?' is really really pathetic." She adds that her daughter "questions every time I take her into a public restroom—is something like that going to happen?"
Starbucks told WUSA, "We take our obligation to provide a safe environment for our customers and partners (employees) very seriously. Our store partners took swift action as soon as they became aware of the issue - immediately alerting the police department and assisting in the investigation. We continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement on this matter; however, because there is pending litigation, we cannot comment on the specifics of this case. However, we can tell you that as a part of regular store operations, we monitor the seating areas and rest rooms in our stores on a regular basis to identify potential safety or security concerns."
You can read the lawsuit (PDF) here—it's asking for $1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. The child's mother insisted, "It's not about money. It's that they need to take a stand and do what's right and take care of stuff."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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