Teacher Sues Man Accused Of Planting Bathroom Camera, Contractors

CHICAGO — A Sunset Ridge School teacher filed suit Tuesday against the man accused of recording videos with cameras hidden in school bathrooms, as well as the two district contractors that employed him.

The teacher says she is among those recorded by former custodian David Garcia-Espinal, who has been wanted since last month on a felony warrant accusing him of unauthorized video recording.

Garcia-Espinal, 40, worked in the cafeteria of the Northfield school as an employee of food service contractor OrganicLife LLC and performed janitorial services while employed by Smith Maintenance Co. He spent more than four years working at Sunset Ridge, according to school officials.

Police have been unable to locate Garcia-Espinal since he left the school Jan. 14, the same day a cell phone was found taped to the inside of a garbage bin in a bathroom designated for use by school staff.

According to the complaint, that was not the only hidden camera planted at Sunset Ridge by Garcia-Espinal. So far, police and school officials have publicly acknowledged only one hidden camera. But a parent who said he was shown illicitly recorded footage of his daughter said another camera was placed in an upstairs girls bathroom.

District 29 Superintendent Ed Stange told parents last month that police had not disclosed who was recorded, how long they were being recorded or where the cameras were located, citing the ongoing investigation. But he said everyone who had been identified in the cell phone footage, or their parents, had been notified and interviewed by investigators.

In addition to Garcia-Espinal, the teacher's lawsuit names OrganicLife and Smith Maintenance as defendants. It accuses all three of intrusion upon seclusion and intentional infliction of emotional distress, while the two companies are also accused of negligent hiring, retention and supervision.

According to the suit, the two companies "knew or should have known that Espinal had a propensity to film members of the public in the restroom" and that he "had a propensity to engage in disorderly conduct in public restrooms."

It alleges the companies failed to comply with background checks required under state law, retained Garcia-Espinal despite his history of filming people in the bathroom and masturbating in public, and failed to adequately supervise him.

The teacher's discovery that she had been surreptitiously recorded while in the restroom at work caused great emotional trauma, which will require ongoing medical and psychological treatment, according to her complaint.

"My client is still in disbelief that a convicted felon who had been previously arrested for filming women and children in public places was allowed to work at the school," attorney Kevin Golden of Dudley & Lake, who filed the suit on the teacher's behalf, told Patch.

"She is disgusted that he was allowed to prey on teachers and students in a place that is supposed to be safe," Golden said. "She has no idea what he did with the recordings or how often she was recorded. No one should have to live with that, and she is still trying to understand the impact of such a violation."

Related:
Board Hears Results Of Internal Probe Into Hidden Bathroom Camera
Custodian Accused Of Hiding Bathroom Camera Has Criminal History
Highwood Man Identified As School Bathroom Hidden Camera Suspect
Staff Finds Bathroom Camera At Northfield Elementary School: Cops

According to police and court records, Garcia-Espinal was investigated by police in 2011 and 2012 in response to suspicions he took pictures of women in bathroom stalls at the Northbrook Court AMC movie theater and masturbated in the women's room at the Regal Cinemas in Glenview, leading to bans from both theaters.

Despite those investigations, Garcia-Espinal, whose last known address is in Highwood, was never convicted of a sex offense.

A month after his August 2012 arrest in Glenview, where police reported finding multiple fake Social Security and residency cards, Garcia-Espinal pleaded guilty to felony possession of fraudulent identification in exchange for four months of probation. At the time, he was working at Sunset Foods under the name Nelson Pagan-Archeval, police said.

A charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct accusing him of fondling himself in the Glenview movie theater was never prosecuted, but there are no records of when prosecutors in the office of former Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez dropped the case.

In December 2012, prosecutors accused Garcia-Espinal of violating the terms of his probation, records show. According to the complaint, he was fined for a probation violation before completing his probation in September 2013.

Both companies were required to perform criminal background checks on their employees as part of their contracts with District 29, according to the complaint.

Greg Goldner, a spokesperson for OrganicLife, has yet to provide a response to repeated questions regarding the type of background checks the company conducts on its employees or whether the company was aware of Garcia-Espinal's criminal history before it hired him.

Representatives of Smith Maintenance have not returned a message seeking comment or responded to written questions about its background checks.

District 29 officials have not been named as defendants or accused of wrongdoing in the lawsuit. But the school district was listed in the complaint as a "respondent-in-discovery," meaning the teacher's attorneys believe the district has essential information that may lead to additional defendants.

School board members met in closed session Feb. 11 with attorneys for the district to discuss the findings of an investigation into the hidden camera incident. The attorneys are expected to review a few additional matters and offer recommendations for board action before the end of the month, according to board President Adelbert Spaan.

"While some changes can be made quickly, others might take time to implement, but as a board we are committed to see this through. We appreciate the community’s patience and faith in us as we work through this. I want to emphasize that moving forward in a thoughtful deliberative manner in the best interest of the school community is this board's priority," Spaan told the public ahead of the closed session discussion.

"These last 28 days have been tough on all of us and our community. I am confident that this difficult period will create a strengthened resolve for our community, to uphold our district as the model district we are and strive to be for our children, staff and community."

Read full complaint: Jane Doe v David Garcia-Espinal, Smith Maintenance Company and OrganicLife LLC »