TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - A University of Alabama art student alleges in a federal lawsuit that she recently found out Geek Squad members published on the Internet nude photos of her they found while repairing her computer at the Best Buy in Tuscaloosa where she works.

Attorneys for Nicole March, an art student with a special emphasis in sculpture, filed the invasion of privacy lawsuit in federal court in Birmingham this afternoon against Best Buy Corporation and Geek Squad Technical Support.

A Best Buy official at the Tuscaloosa store declined comment.

Paula Baldwin, with Best Buy's corporate public relations, also stated in an email that as a matter of policy, Best Buy does not comment on pending litigation.

Efforts to reach corporate officials Geek Squad were unsuccessful this afternoon.

"In her artistic endeavors and with an interest in the human body, plaintiff (March) has, from time to time, had professional and privately made nude photographs of herself which she stored on her personal computer for private, personal and professional reference and use," according to her lawsuit.

March states in her lawsuit that she paid $131 on Aug. 18, 2011 to have the Geek Squad at the Tuscaloosa Store where she works retrieve data she had stored on her computer's hard drives, according to the lawsuit and her receipt.

"In becoming a customer of defendants, plaintiff (March) relied upon the terms and conditions of her agreement with defendants and the privacy policy and expectations that accompanied this service for rescue of data for their customers," according to the lawsuit.

On May 13 of this year, an employee of the Geek Squad, informed March that he had nude photographs of her and to let her know "they were circulating," according to the lawsuit. The photos were the same ones that had been on the computer that had been accessed by the Geek Squad, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that the employee had been sent a link from a site called Pirate Bay to the photos by another employee. The lawsuit states that March notified the general manager of the Best Buy store and on May 17 she was contacted by a Geek Squad official who informed her he had discovered the culprit.

The Geek Squad official told March that actions were being taken to delete evidence of her photographs and images and requested that she do him "the favor of not asking who the culprit was."

March filed a report with the Tuscaloosa Police Department on May 20, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims: invasion of privacy; outrageous conduct; breach of contract; negligent supervision, training, and entrustment; and negligence and wantoness.

"This conduct was utterly reprehensible and cannot be tolerated in a civilized society where a customer entrusts her computer to a service for repair and rescue only to have sensitive and private data, images, and information uploaded to public links for use by strangers and the public at large," according to the lawsuit.

March has been caused to suffer mental anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation "from now knowing these, private and sensitive photos have been published and made accessible to untold and innumerable persons for improper use and viewing," according to the lawsuit.

"In this day in society we've got to do everything we can to protect privacy and that's the purpose of this suit," said Steve Heninger, the Birmingham attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of March.

Updated at 6:12 p.m. Aug. 9, 2013 with no comment statement from Best Buy

