Women file lawsuit against swim school after Rochester Hills doc accused of videotaping them
WXYZ
By Heather Catallo
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DETROIT, Michigan (WXYZ) — Two metro Detroit young women say they are suing a swim school for failing to protect them from a Rochester Hills doctor who’s accused of videotaping the women nude.
Dr. Oumair Aejaz is accused of assaulting patients inside hospitals and of taking disturbing videos of women and children in several locations. Aejaz is facing 10 felony charges including child sexually abusive activity and using a computer to create child sexually abusive material.
Oakland County Sheriff’s officials say Dr. Aejaz took some of those videos of two women at the Goldfish Swim School in Rochester. The 7 Investigators have learned that those two young women were employees of the swim school, and today they filed a lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court against the swim school and Aejaz.
They are listed as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in the lawsuit to protect their privacy. They released this statement to the 7 Investigators:
“Goldfish Swim shares the blame with Dr. Aejaz for betraying our trust and violating our privacy. As former employees, we were required to undress in shared spaces, creating an environment ripe for predatory behavior. It’s crucial for Goldfish Swim to recognize its role in this situation and to take meaningful steps to ensure the safety and dignity of everyone involved. We need to see real change to prevent this from happening again.”
On August 20, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced charges against Aejaz. Bouchard said Aejaz is accused of using hidden cameras to record children as young as two and women of various ages in hospital rooms, changing areas as well as inside bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets that he had access to, as well as in the communal changing area at Goldfish Swim School in Rochester.
The two former Goldfish employees who detectives say were recorded nude are a 23-year-old Oakland County woman and a 21-year-old Macomb County woman.
“They were notified by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office that they’re on video, and they need answers,” said attorney Lisa Esser. “These were their first jobs, and they were good at their jobs. And because their employer did not protect them, forced them to change in these areas that were not secure, they’ve now been exposed like this. They don’t know if those videos and photographs have been shared.”
“This is the recurring nightmare that both of them are having: where has this video been shared and who else is going to see it,” said attorney Megan Bonanni.
Bonanni and Esser represent the young women in the lawsuit. Both allege Goldfish Swim failed to secure the changing area at the swim school.
“There were no procedures in place to protect them [the employees] from what is a foreseeable injury, from a predator there. There were no supervisors watching the communal changing areas,” said Bonanni.
Bonanni and Esser say the young employees had to change into their swim school uniform inside the same changing area at Goldfish that the public has to use. They say there were no separate changing facilities for employees.
“This was discovered on the hard drives that we were investigating. So the camera looks like it’s looking underneath into their changing room,” said Bouchard.
“They have a significant amount of space in the common wall of the various changing stalls, large enough for a person to crawl under, large enough for a bag to be placed in between two stalls with a recording device,” said Bonanni. Bonanni says the gap in the walls dividing the changing rooms is at least 18 inches high.
“We’re not just talking about the employees, but we’re talking about the community at large. We’re talking about moms, dads and their very, very young children having a day out on a Saturday to learn how to swim. And now they’ve been exposed to a sexual predator,” said Esser.
Bonanni and Esser say once the charges were announced, both of their clients recognized Dr. Aejaz immediately.
“They remembered him as someone who was a customer and whose children attended the school,” said Bonanni.
The lawsuit alleges that “…Goldfish allowed Aejaz unfettered, unmonitored and unsupervised access to the community changing area where children and women, including Plaintiffs, were known to undress.”
“The trauma in this case is permanent and it is palpable,” said Bonanni.
“They can’t eat. They can’t sleep. They’re losing their hair. They’re stressed out. They’re doing poorly in school. And how do you put that back together after all this,” said Esser.
The young women not only asking for damages, they say they want Goldfish to change its policies for everyone.
“We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone again, and we are asking that strict policies be put in place to protect not only employees, but the community at large,” said Bonanni.
In addition to videos made at the swim school that were discovered, Sheriff Bouchard says evidence they seized from Aejaz’s Rochester Hills home also shows the doctor recording sexual encounters he had with several female hospital patients who were either asleep or unconscious.
Bouchard said his detectives acted on a tip from Aejaz’s wife, who has filed for divorce from him.
Investigators seized six computers, four cell phones and 15 external storage devices from Aejaz’s home. Bouchard said one device contained more than 13,000 images, and it could take several months to complete a forensic examination of the materials.
McDonald charged Aejaz with 1 count of child sexually abusive material, 2 counts of using a computer to create and/or reproduce child sexually abusive material, 2 counts of capturing/recording children under the age of 18 while nude, 2 counts of capturing/recording women over the age of 18 while nude, and 4 counts of using a computer to commit a crime. He’s due back in court in October.
Bouchard said Aejaz is a citizen of India but has been in the U.S. since 2011 on a work visa.
In response to the lawsuit, a Goldfish Swim School spokesperson said,
“We have been made aware of the lawsuit filed on behalf of former team members, and our legal team is currently reviewing the elements of the lawsuit. However, it is very important to note there are no communal changing areas in any Goldfish facilities. The safety and privacy of all our team members and guests remain our top priority, and for that reason, at no point has there ever been a communal changing area – only the private changing areas with dividers and locks, as well as private restrooms. All of us remain sickened for those who fell victim to, and have been adversely affected by, this predator, a man who allegedly went to great lengths to violate the privacy of unsuspecting patrons, patients and even guests in his own home. We are not able to elaborate further as we do not want to disrupt the integrity of the ongoing investigation or prosecutorial efforts. We will do everything possible to ensure the person responsible for these crimes is fully accountable.”
After the investigation was announced in August, Goldfish Swim School issued the following statement:
Our entire team was shocked, angered and saddened to recently learn of Mr. Aejaz’s criminal activity within our school, along with many other locations in the greater community. To think that anyone would violate the privacy and trust of others, particularly vulnerable children, is inconceivable. While Aejaz has not been in our facility for months, we will do everything in our power to continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they, along with other public safety partners, hold him fully accountable for his actions. The safety of our students, families and team members are our top priority – this is not negotiable. We will continue to work with those affected to provide them the support needed during this time. As this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we will not elaborate further to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
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