By Paul Edward Parker
The Providence Journal, R.I.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) The lawsuit says that Forever 21 maintained an employee locker room behind the cash register. Inside that locker room was a unisex restroom for use by one person at a time. The suit says the store took no steps to secure the locker room and restroom.
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
A former Providence College student who says she found video of herself on pornographic websites is suing Forever 21, saying the clothing retail chain did not prevent someone from installing a camera in an employee bathroom at the chain’s store in Providence Place mall, according to documents filed in the case.
The former student, who is not identified in the lawsuit, says in a filing that she “is one of what she believes to be many women who have been videotaped and sexually harassed by” Forever 21. “It is reasonable to conclude that other female employees were also surreptitiously filmed in different stages of undress and published for the world to see on various pornographic websites.”
The woman, who seeks $2 million in damages on each of two claims in the lawsuit, said she worked at the store while she was a PC student in 2011, according to her suit. She filed under the pseudonym “Jane Doe” to protect herself from further embarrassment, according to a request filed with the court to allow the lawsuit to go forward without her true name attached to it. She filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The lawsuit says she was a resident of Suffolk County, New York, while she was a student at PC and working at Forever 21 in Providence Place from March to August 2011. On Dec. 9, 2016, she was alerted to the fact that video of her was published on multiple pornographic websites, the suit says.
A report published online by Women’s Wear Daily says that it’s unclear whether the store ever discovered the camera.
In responding to Women’s Wear Daily, a Forever 21 spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit specifically.
“We want to make it clear that Forever 21 takes the privacy of our team members extremely seriously,” the spokeswoman is quoted as saying. “We have zero tolerance for any type of inappropriate behavior, and we are committed to making Forever 21 a safe space for all employees, without exception. We have been actively investigating this matter, which has involved law enforcement, our legal team, and national investigation teams. We are committed to our employees and will continue to search out those responsible for this heinous act.”
The lawsuit says that Forever 21 maintained an employee locker room behind the cash register area at the Providence Place store. Inside that locker room was a unisex restroom for use by one person at a time. The suit says the store took no steps to secure the locker room and restroom.
While cases of this nature are rare, they’re not unheard of in the retail world, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
In 2009, several Wal-Mart employees in Pennsylvania sued the retailer after discovering a hidden camera in a bathroom of an automotive center, which was later said to have been an effort to prevent shoplifting.
Putting cameras in spaces reasonably presumed to be private, like changing rooms and dressing rooms, is prohibited widely, but on a state-by-state basis, Women’s Wear Daily reported. Rhode Island passed a “video voyeur” law about 15 years ago prohibiting such cameras. Federal law and the U.S. Constitution only focus on a person’s right to privacy from the government or a state actor.
The Providence Journal did not immediately receive a response Saturday from Forever 21.
With reports by staff writer Alex Kuffner
