Dozens of women and children secretly videotaped in Sears dressing rooms and bathrooms over the years lawsuit claims

Dozens of women and children claiming to have been videotaped in a Sears’ dressing room over the last three years before posted online have filed suit against the department store with many more victims expected to come forward.



Between 2009 and April of this year, 20 to 60 cameras filmed customers changing and using the restrooms in a North Hollywood, California Sears by a former maintenance man, a lawsuit filed Monday claims.



‘There's a lot of people who were patrons and don't have any idea that they've been videotaped,’ Attorney Michael Alder, whose currently representing 25 plaintiffs composed of 16 employees and nine customers told ABC.

Candid camera: Dozens of shoppers and employees were secretly filmed in this Sears' dressing rooms and bathrooms for three years before the arrest of a maintenance worker in April

Among the customers are four children, with some of the cameras found in the walls of the children’s dressing rooms as well, according to ABC.



The suit alleges Sears knew or should have known about the cameras and peep holes prior to the arrest of 27-year-old employee Alejandro Gamiz, who 'regularly and frequently purported to be performing maintenance ... [when] no maintenance was required, requested or necessary.'

‘Our invasion of privacy was taken from us, from all of the girls,’ Krystel Dean who currently works at the store at the Valley Plaza Mall told CBS2 News.



‘I want to know if I’ve been on it or if my kids have been on it as well,’ she said, speaking of her three small daughters she says had used the dressing rooms.

Accused: Sears employee Krystel Dean is among the 25 who have filed a lawsuit accusing the store of either knowing of the videos or not doing enough to prevent it

Adding further suspicion to the case according to Mr Alder, an arbitration agreement was issued to Sears’ employees two weeks before Gamiz's arrest that banned employees from talking about future claims or filing a lawsuit.

'One week prior to announcing the arrest, SEARS pressured its employees who had not yet signed the arbitration agreement to immediately sign it' - Complaint filed against Sears





That agreement would prevent them from filing a lawsuit in the Superior Court and waive their rights to a jury trial, according to Mr Alder.



'One week prior to announcing the arrest, SEARS pressured its employees who had not yet signed the arbitration agreement to immediately sign it,' the suit claims.



'The adoption of the company arbitration policy is independent of this matter,’ Sears Spokeswoman Kimberly Freely told NBC4, adding that associates who signed had 30 days to opt out.



‘If we were to learn that others were involved in this incident or knew of it and failed to report it, we will take disciplinary action,’ she said. ’With all due respect to the associates who may have been impacted by this incident these claims are not true.’



Spotlight: A maintenance worker is accused of setting up 20 to 60 cameras throughout the store's changing rooms and bathrooms, also in the children's section (file photo)

Gamiz, who had worked for Sears for the past seven years, was arrested on April 12 for burglary and surreptitious filming after a sweep by Sears’ loss prevention personnel noticed ‘something that looked suspicious,’ according to a Sears’ employee speaking to NBC.



They said they immediately notified the Los Angeles police department.

The lawsuit lists unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for unpaid wages, mental and emotional distress, as well as attorney fees and other costs.



Ms Dean is also suing for illegal retaliation when her hours were cut after being the first to hire an attorney on the claims.

‘I just don’t feel like being there because I still feel, I feel betrayed by them,’ Ms Dean said.



Adding to the victims’ horror, according to police Gamiz allegedly uploaded to videos of the women to a website for others to view.



More expected: The attorney representing the plaintiffs believes many more women could come forward with so many shoppers frequenting the store between 2009 and April of this year (file photo)

That website, peepingtomsawyer.com, has since been removed by the LAPD.



Video tapes and a hard drive belonging to Gamiz have since been confiscated by police as well.

'We don't know if our faces have been on it, if it's just our body parts, we don't know anything about it, all we know is that he had us on film' - Krystel Dean, Sears employee





Police report the footage showing only the lower bodies of those on camera making it difficult for them to identify those involved, but Ms Dean worries they could have shown more.



'We don't know if our faces have been on it, if it's just our body parts, we don't know anything about it, all we know is that he had us on film,' she told NBC4.

‘As information gets out, they will realize they frequented that Sears for the last three years and undressed,’ Mr Ader told ABC.



Following Gamiz’s arrest he was released on $20,000 bail.



Among the claims against Sears are invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment harassment, as well as negligent hiring, supervision, and retention.