#PrivacyInvasion ChipotleLawsuit

[willdenham-blog1]

Chipotle is under attack again.  

Just weeks after a Harris County jury awarded $7.5 million to a former female employee for underage sexual harassment, a new suit in Brazoria County says that the restaurant’s manager at the Missouri City location (off Highway 6) installed a spy camera in the women’s bathroom.

But it gets worse.  Beyond the individual’s culpability for invading the plaintiff’s privacy, according to the lawsuit, Chipotle management tried to cover up the wrongdoing--and caused serious emotional damage as a result.  

Specifically, the claim is that Chipotle, among other things, engaged in: “(1) attempting to blame customers for planting the recording device, (2) destroying SIM cards which contained graphic images of the women and children undressing and using the restroom, (3) mandating that none of the Chipotle managers and employees with knowledge of the visual recording scandal notify anyone, including law enforcement, (4) the General Manager allowing another member of Management to take the video recorder home in an attempt to destroy evidence and to undoubtedly engage in self-gratification from viewing the videos of the women and children undressing and using the restroom, (5) by continuing to allow the general manager who was involved in the cover-up to continue working in a managerial capacity for over two months after the invasive video recording scandal was uncovered, (6) by removing interoffice emails which advised a Manager, who was a co-conspirator and close friend of one of the sexual predators, of the names of Chipotle employees and former employees complaining of the scandal that were provided to Chipotle by Plaintiffs’ counsel in confidence in an attempt to resolve Plaintiffs’ claims without resorting to a lawsuit, and (7) by refusing to notify any of its employees and/or customers, including children, who had no knowledge of the invasive video-recording scandal.”

It’s not clear what Chipotle’s response will be, or if the claims will prevail.  But one thing is certain: Chipotle’s image again needs repair.

If you or someone you know has an invasion-of-privacy or intentional-infliction-of-emotional-distress claim like this, please let us know at 713.352.8888.  We may be able to help.