The Kansas City StarIn a story that continues to send shockwaves through the Detroit area, two former employees are suing Goldfish Swim School in Rochester, claiming the business failed to safeguard them from a local doctor who secretly recorded them while they changed. These allegations involve Dr. Oumair Aejaz, who is accused of planting cameras not only in the swim school but also in hospital rooms across multiple locations, as per a CBS News Detroit report. The former employees, aged 21 and 23, were captured on video without their consent, exhibiting vulnerability to what they describe as "predatory behavior."
The lawsuit asserts that Goldfish Swim School shares responsibility for the breach of privacy, given the allegedly inadequate security measures in place "Predators do not operate in isolation; they take advantage of opportunities presented to them, and Goldfish created an ideal feeding ground for Dr. Aejaz," attorney Megan Bonanni stated in a release, according to The Kansas City Star. The complaint highlights that the swim instructors, known as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, were mandated to change in shared spaces without adequate privacy, raising significant concern over the swim school’s policies.
After the physician was arrested this August facing multiple criminal charges, including capturing images of unclothed persons and using a computer to commit a crime, law enforcement unearthed over 13,000 disturbing videos featuring various individuals in stages of undress, where they range in age from children to adults, as mentioned by Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. In light of these revelations, The Kansas City Star reported that the swim school expressed its dismay towards this invasion of privacy, asserting that the defendant went to "great lengths" to compromise the safety of countless individuals.
With the case escalating in gravity, the victims' attorneys Bonanni and Esser-Weidenfeller, who have previously worked with survivors of infamous abuser Larry Nassar, are demanding that Goldfish Swim School accept accountability, and implement reforms to prevent future abuses from occurring, and the plaintiffs' experiences since discovering the violation include enduring anxiety, depression, and loss of appetite, hallmarks of trauma according to the lawsuit details.
