Third lawsuit filed against Batavia chiropractor accused of secretly videotaping patients

A third law firm has filed a civil action lawsuit against a Batavia chiropractor accused of secretly recording patients, including minors, while they were naked.

Romanucci & Blandin filed a 44-page complaint Monday on behalf of a mother, her two minor children, and their grandmother against David H. Hanson and Hanson Family Chiropractic, seeking more than $16.5 million.

As in the other two lawsuits, the plaintiffs are identified only as Jane Doe.

“Our family is in complete disbelief that someone we turned to for help and healing appears to have violated us in this way,” according to a statement from Jane Doe 1, released by the law firm at a Tuesday news conference.

Felony charges against Hanson allege that he secretly recorded more than 180 of his patients, mostly women and young girls, as they were undressed or were nude, as part of a treatment known as near-infrared therapy. He was also charged with possessing materials depicting child sexual abuse, unrelated to recordings of patients, officials said.

Speaking at the news conference, Antonio Romanucci decried the frequency of cases involving secret recordings of people while they were disrobing or nude.

“It seems that we have told this story before about hidden cameras being in places where they shouldn’t be,” Romanucci said.

“We aim to stop it,” he added.

In another case, the law firm is representing 11 teenage girls in a civil action against an Addison ice cream store owner accused of secretly recording them while they changed clothes in the restroom.

Flavor Frenzy owner Steven Weisberg is also facing criminal charges.

Romanucci said a solution is strengthening the laws regarding a susceptible person in a compromised situation when they don’t know they are being recorded.

State Rep. Curtis Tarver II, a Chicago Democrat, said he plans to propose legislation called the Protecting Children from Hidden Cameras Act.

The legislation would prohibit hidden cameras from restrooms, locker rooms, medical treatment rooms and other areas where people have an expectation of privacy.

“It would require clean on-site disclosures anywhere a business records its customers or its employees,” Tarver said. “It will add hidden camera screening to safety inspections.”

Among the allegations in the new lawsuit are invasion of privacy, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress, consumer fraud and premises liability.

Romanucci’s complaint is scheduled for a case management conference on Feb. 10. The other two civil cases are scheduled for case management on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28.

Circuit clerk records do not show an attorney representing Hanson in the civil cases.

Hanson is scheduled to appear in court on the criminal charges Jan. 8.