A Chicago law firm is decrying a “plague” of privacy violations across the region after patients filed suit against a Batavia chiropractor, alleging he secretly videotaped them during treatment while they were partially or fully undressed.
Attorneys with the Romanucci & Blandin firm at a news conference Tuesday said they have filed two separate civil lawsuits in recent weeks against businesses for allegedly using their operations to secretly record people. The firm is also investigating reports of similar cases at two other Chicago-area businesses.
The latest complaint, involving two adults and two children, was filed against west suburban chiropractor David Hanson and his business, Hanson Family Chiropractic.
Romanucci & Blandin filed the suit Monday in Kane County Circuit Court on behalf of the patients, which include two women and two children from the same family spanning three generations, the family’s attorneys said.
“Our family is in complete disbelief that someone we turned to for help and healing appears to have violated us in this way,” one of the complainants, identified as Jane Doe 1, said in a statement. “And for so many members of our own family to be exploited raises serious questions about how many others may have also been harmed.”
The Kane County state’s attorney’s office filed numerous criminal charges against Hanson earlier this month after a joint investigation between its child exploitation unit and Batavia police determined he had secretly recorded more than 180 patients while they were undressed. The videos date back to 2017, with victims including both children and adults, prosecutors said. Victims were mostly female, the charges state. Hanson remains jailed while his case is pending trial.
Hanson’s attorney did not immediately answer the Tribune’s requests for comment.
The complaint filed against Hanson this week lays out 32 counts of alleged wrongdoing — eight counts alleged for each plaintiff — ranging from invasion of privacy and negligence by Hanson and his practice to intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages for each plaintiff.
“When a person seeks medical treatment, there is an assumption of trust,” attorney Sarah Raisch, of Romanucci & Blandin, told reporters Tuesday. “That the provider is there to help them and improve their quality of life. Nothing seems further from the truth at Hanson Family Chiropractic.”
Jane Doe 1 and her two children, a boy and girl identified as Child Doe 1 and Child Doe 2, started receiving treatment from Hanson in 2018, according to their complaint. The fourth plaintiff, a woman identified as Jane Doe 2, started receiving treatment in 2020.
Treatments the plaintiffs received included near-infrared light therapy and red light therapy, noninvasive care that involves a patient either changing into a medical gown or taking their clothes off entirely, the complaint states.
The complaint alleges that sometime during or before 2017, hidden video recording devices were placed in vents and fans throughout the offices of Hanson Family Chiropractic, including in the room used for red light and near-infrared therapy. With the cameras, Hanson allegedly made recordings without patients’ knowledge during treatment sessions, during which he’d instruct patients to “bend and stretch,” the complaint states.
“There was a huge violation of privacy and trust, and our clients have suffered immensely,” attorney Daisy Ayllón, also of Romanucci & Blandin, said Tuesday. Attorneys added they expect more lawsuits to be filed against Hanson and his practice, noting this is “just the first wave.”
The suits are only the latest accusation of secret recordings at area businesses. The complaint against Hanson comes after 11 former female employees of an Addison ice cream store filed a suit against its owner last month over allegations that he secretly recorded them in the store’s bathroom.
In the wake of the string of alleged violations, attorneys called for systemic change.
“We’re likening this to a plague,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said. “It’s a plague that is afflicting our communities. It’s a plague that can’t be fixed or solved with a vaccine. … So we have to figure out a solution.”
Beyond charges and complaints, that solution, Romanucci maintained, will require “civil justice” by strengthening state law.
“We need legislative action to create systemic accountability and change,” he said.
State Rep. Curtis Tarver II, who represents the 25th District, announced Tuesday that he will be introducing the Protect Children from Hidden Cameras bill next month.
The legislation, which Tarver said he plans to submit in January, would prohibit hidden cameras from places people expect to have privacy, including bathrooms, locker rooms and medical treatment rooms. It also would require safety inspections to include screening for hidden cameras and require on-site disclosure anywhere a business records customers or employees, Tarver said.
“I’m disgusted by the allegations of what happened,” he said. “I’m appalled.”