Two weeks ago a school district conducted their own "in-house" TSCM sweep for spycams after an employee was charged with 30 child pornography and voyeurism charges. Big fail. Multiple reasons.
This week...
An Illinois dental practice has been sued by 11 employees after an hygienist allegedly hid two cameras in the work bathroom, new court papers show.
One camera was discovered Oct. 22 in a unisex employees’ bathroom of the national dental chain Aspen Dental in Crestwood, and it was turned over to the police department, according to the lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday.
That same day, dental hygienist Armani Alexander, 25, “admitted to placing the camera” in the bathroom and was arrested, the court papers say.
The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras.
Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom, court documents allege...
Aspen admitted that a background check for Alexander — who had only been with the company for two months — “was flagged for criminal activity,” the court papers say...
The workers — who are each suing for at least $50,000 — have brought claims of negligent hiring and supervision against the practice. more
- The police were given the first camera and had a confession the same day. "Case closed."
- We don't know if the police conducted a follow-up inspection for additional cameras. If they didn't, they failed. If they did, they failed to find the second camera.
- The practice knowingly hired a hygienist with known criminal activity ...and didn't investigate further.
- No mention of an independent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) specialist being called in to investigate. Big fail.
- "The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras." (Visions of Steve Martin.) ..."Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom."
Why is all this important?
Emotional pain and embarrassment aside... not conducting a professional emergency sweep will have expensive consequences, and may put this dentist out of business.
- 11 employees suing for $50,000.00 each = $550,000.00
- Cost of recruiting, hiring and training new staff = $????.00
- Loss of business due to the bad publicity = $????.00+
- Total cost of their DIY "sweep" (rough guess) "a lot!"
- Cost of a professional TSCM sweep for an average dental office suite ≈ only $4,500 - $6,000.
If you have an active situation, find a competent TSCM professional.
