A Chicago woman is suing Hilton Worldwide for $100 million saying that she was filmed naked in the shower by a hidden camera and the footage was uploaded onto multiple porn sites.
The unnamed plaintiff sued the hotel giant for negligence citing “severe and permanent psychological injuries,” “severe mental anguish, emotional distress and other damages” such as medical expenses and loss of earnings.
The woman was a guest at a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel in Albany, the capital of New York State, in July 2015 while taking a bar exam. She was recorded while taking a shower by a hidden video camera, the lawsuit claims.
But she was blissfully ignorant until September 2018, more than three years later, when she received an email saying “this is you right?” with a link to the video on a porn site published with her full name.
The same person, claiming “I’m a perv,” then sent multiple threatening emails, professing to know where she went to university and where she worked. When the threats went unheeded, the video appeared on a string of other porn sites.
The extortionist then demanded an immediate hush payment of $2,000 followed by $1,000 a month for a year, the lawsuit claims, also alleging that other people were recorded in the same room at the same Hampton Inn.
In a statement, Hilton, the parent company of Hampton Inn, said “We commit to supporting the independent ownership and management of the property as they investigate, respond and cooperate with any law enforcement investigations.”