POMONA, Calif. — A 22-year-old woman and her mother are suing Best Buy and its “Geek Squad” computer repair team for dispatching a technician who they say videotaped the daughter taking a shower.
Sarah Vasquez and her mother Natalie Fornaciari filed a Superior Court lawsuit Wednesday claiming technician Hao Kuo Chi, 26, placed his cellular telephone in Vasquez’s bathroom during a service call March 4 in the family’s Walnut home and recorded her showering.
The suit also claims the phone was found in the bedroom of Vasquez’s 13-year-old sister, Kelly Rocha.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening to me,” Vasquez said. “I felt embarrassed and dirty because he did this when I was naked.”
Chi was arrested and later charged with misdemeanor counts of using a camera to view a person without consent and annoying or molesting a child under 18, said Sgt. Bob Skidlarski of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A court hearing will be held May 3.
Best Buy officials released a statement saying the company learned of the lawsuit shortly after it was announced Wednesday.
“Obviously, we intend to cooperate fully with any investigation into this matter,” the statement said.
Chi was at the family’s home for a scheduled appointment, according to the lawsuit.
Vasquez claims she noticed a cell phone positioned on her bathroom sink when she exited the shower. A red light on it was blinking, she said. Vasquez went to tell her sister, but when they returned the phone was gone. Kelly later found it in her bedroom.
The sisters removed the memory chip and took it to a Verizon store to see what was on it. They alerted their stepfather, who reported Chi to police.
“I was shocked and felt angry and upset for my daughters when I learned what was on the video,” Fornaciari said.
The family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for alleged fraud, negligent misrepresentation and hiring, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A telephone listing could not be located for Chi in Walnut or the surrounding area. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Gloria Allred, said she did not know if he had a lawyer.