Woman sues Kaiser, claims she was recorded undressing on employee phone

LOS ANGELES - A woman is suing Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Southern California Permanente Medical Group, alleging an employee's cell phone recorded the plaintiff while undressing during a visit to the Downey facility in 2020.

The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, alleging negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and premises liability. Doe seeks unspecified damages.

In a statement, Kaiser officials said, "Kaiser Permanente has strong and unequivocally clear policies in place that protect our patients' privacy, and we do not condone nor tolerate any breach of such policies. The safety and security of our patients are our highest priority. We have not yet been served with the lawsuit in question, and we cannot comment on specific patient situations due to our confidentiality obligations."

According to the lawsuit, Doe was "captured undressing herself by a cell phone left on the premises of a dressing area" by a Kaiser employee during a video call on June 30, 2020, at the Kaiser Permanente Orchard Medical Offices on Imperial Highway.

Doe's "personal and sensitive information was transmitted and shared (with) unknown person(s)," the suit alleges.

The suit does not state who was on the video call, why it was being conducted, or the job title of the employee.

Doe had a "reasonable expectation of privacy while undressing" and as a result suffered "severe emotional distress" and maintains that leaving a device to record "the live disrobing of one's person, in what was thought to be a private area without consent or warning, was outrageous conduct and done with reckless disregard...," according to the suit.

Crime and Public Safety Los Angeles Downey