DaVita Manager Harassed Women, Planted Bathroom Camera: Suit

GLENVIEW, IL — For years, the manager of a dialysis center in Glenview sexually harassed employees without facing consequences from his bosses before he was criminally charged last month with illegally recording women in the staff bathroom, according to a class action lawsuit.

Michael Klusmeyer, 62, of the 200 block of Parkview Drive, Wauconda, was taken into custody July 31 after prosecutors said he admitted to placing a hidden camera in the women's restroom of the dialysis clinic. He told investigators he began recording inside the women's room a year ago and viewed the files on his home computer, prosecutors said.

The class action complaint was filed in Cook County Circuit Court Sept. 4 against Klusmeyer, DaVita Inc. and Satellite Dialysis of Glenview LLC on behalf of four female employees who worked at the outpatient dialysis center at 2601 Compass Road.

The facility was owned by Satellite, a subsidiary of San Jose, California-based Satellite Healthcare, when Klusmeyer was promoted to interim clinic manager in fall 2015 and made permanent clinic manager the following year, according to the complaint. In that position, he supervised all employees.

Staff and patients repeatedly complained about misconduct by Klusmeyer, the suit says. Patients claimed he "treated them in an inappropriate manner." Employees said he ignored their concerns and engaged in "sexually inappropriate and offensive harassing conduct toward women," in violation of the company's stated policies. He shared sexually explicit and sexist videos and photographs and made sexual innuendos and jokes to women who reported to him, the complaint said.

According to the suit, Klusmeyer would make sexual comments about the bodies of staff and other women. One female employee said he attempted to intimidate her by showing he had access to her personal financial information. Despite multiple complaints about his conduct, upper management at Satellite took no action against Klusmeyer, the suit alleges. Although they acknowledged problems with his work performance, they gave him credit for the clinic's good financial performance. A Satellite area manager allegedly responded to a report of his misconduct from an employee by saying Klusmeyer was the "best thing to happen to the clinic."

Klusmeyer kept the job after Satellite announced DaVita bought the facility in May 2018, the suit said. DaVita took over operations in November 2018.

"Despite the long and documented history of Klusmeyer's misconduct," DaVita gave Klusmeyer a financial bonus and allowed him to keep the highest-ranking management position at the site, according to the suit. After the takeover, he "continued and escalated his inappropriate and offensive misconduct," it said.

"Klusmeyer repeatedly chose to use the women's bathroom instead of the men's bathroom. Klusmeyer had no legitimate reason for using women's bathroom at work," the suit said.

Women who worked there objected repeatedly and reported it made them uncomfortable, but he ignored their concerns and continued to do so, according to the suit.

The suit claims Klusmeyer "targeted and lured women into the bathroom" for supposedly work-related purposes, like trying on new scrubs, so that he could record them using the motion-activated camera he'd left there.

By the spring of 2019, the clinic's new corporate management acknowledged that Klusmeyer's misconduct had been corroborated by multiple sources, the complaint alleges. But DaVita managers felt sympathetic to the 62-year-old Klusmeyer — because he was a "nice guy" nearing retirement age and they did not want to see him "lose his job," the suit said.

After an employee reported finding a camera disguised as a key fob in the women's staff bathroom and turned it over to police July 23, Glenview police opened a criminal investigation. Authorities said detectives confirmed the device contained videos of, at least, the woman who reported the incident, and prosecutors approved one count of unlawful videotaping. Prosecutors may seek to file additional charges.

"If you allow bad conduct to fester, it starts to present itself in really disturbing ways. If you don't correct a manager who is doing inappropriate things of a sexual nature at work, this is one of the consequences," according to attorney Jeff Kulwin, who is representing the four women and seeking the approval of a class action. It could consist of more than 75 women who have worked at the dialysis center since 2015 — the year Klusmeyer took over.

Whether or not police confirm their images were recorded or archived by the accused former administrator of the facility, Kulwin said the privacy rights of everyone who used the women's room were violated. He said members of the corporate office and employees of other medical organizations who worked at the clinic also used the staff bathroom.

Police said they carried out a search warrant at Klusmeyer's house Aug. 1 and collected various pieces of property. A police report indicates there were at least two victims identified and potentially additional unknown victims. The department redacted from the investigative report all references to what was collected from his home or what kind of recording devices Klusmeyer may have used.

"The most frightening thing about this," the attorney said, "is that people who are victimized by it oftentimes don't even know what's happened to them, or to what extent, until a lot of time has passed."

While small motion-activated video cameras like the one Klusmeyer is accused of planting in the women's bathroom focused at the toilet have become increasingly affordable and accessible, employers do not often offer much training about how to spot them, he said.

In Cook County, the crime of unlawful video recording in a restroom is not considered a sex offense, and convictions generally result in misdemeanors and probation. Under Illinois law, it does not require sex offender registration, but it is more likely to be a felony if it is committed by someone already required to register as a convicted sex offender.

The complaint claims Satellite and DaVita "knew or should have known that Klusmeyer was a mentally unstable person who engaged in inappropriate conduct at work" and that he "subjected female employees to unwanted offensive and inappropriate sexually harassing conduct" before the allegations of illegal videotaping emerged, but the company neglected to discipline Klusmeyer, supervise him or take any other corrective action.

Representatives of Satellite and DaVita have not responded to written questions about Klusmeyer's employment in Glenview.

As of Sept. 17, Klusmeyer's license as a registered professional nurse was listed as "active" by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Its records showed he had never been disciplined by state regulators.

Klusmeyer, who is out on bail, hung up on a reporter when contacted for this article. In a 2014 interview, he said he has worked in dialysis since 1985 and had worked for two other dialysis providers before the job in Glenview. He offered his advice at the time for others going into the nursing profession.

"Learn to laugh at yourself, and with others," Klusmeyer said. "Be a listener, to learn from patients and families. Keep your mind open and clear. There are multiple ways to get from point A to point B. Be open to new ideas, and other point of views. Learn to enjoy your time away from work to de-stress and relax."

Read full 21-page class action complaint against»