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Customers of a security company who had their home cameras accessed by a former technician who allegedly watched people having sex “hundreds and hundreds of times” say they don’t want settlement payments for the invasion of their privacy — they want to take class action.
In a memo filed on July 12 in a Florida federal court, Plaintiff Shana Doty told a judge that she wanted to represent a Class of ADT Security Services customers who had their privacy breached when former ADT technician Telesforo Aviles used his position to access people’s home cameras and spy on them.
Aviles pleaded guilty to computer fraud in January and was sentenced in June to four years in prison, Law360 reported.
Doty says ADT operated on an “honor system” where it trusted its techs not to access people’s private cameras.
“The decision to operate on this honor system proved disastrous for Ms. Doty and members of the proposed class,” the memo says.
It says, for seven years, Aviles granted himself access to 216 accounts of customers in the Dallas area, and then would access those accounts for months at a time, “enjoying the same rights and privilege as Site Owners themselves.”
“Because ADT did not have in place adequate measures to monitor this kind of behavior, Aviles went unnoticed for nearly a decade. And in the end it wasn’t even an ADT employee who discovered Aviles’s behavior, but a customer.”
The memo says ADT approached the 216 affected customers to offer settlements. However, Doty was one of the 129 customers who rejected the settlement offer.
She’s now seeking to represent anyone whose Pulse security system was accessed by Telesforo Aviles but who have not released their claims against ADT.
Doty says that while ADT approached basically all the Class members and offered them monetary settlements, many preferred to take legal action. She says a class action is the best route because it is the most cost effective.
“While ADT’s settlement offers were occasionally several thousand dollars (evidencing the severity of ADT’s conduct), it is clear that this amount of money is insufficient to encourage individual litigation,” she says.
“Litigation costs threaten to exhaust even medium-sized settlements, and any potential contingency award is too small to incentivize a lawyer to invest the amount of time and energy necessary to see this case through, demonstrating that a class action remains the better vehicle for advancing this litigation.”
Doty accuses ADT of negligence, and technician Aviles of spying on Doty and her family, as well as hundreds of others, without their consent.
Doty is seeking certification of the Class, admission of negligence, damages, injunctive relief, legal fees, interest, and a jury trial.
Do you have an ADT security system in your home? How safe do you feel? Let us know in the comments!
Doty is represented by Jay Edelson, Benjamin H. Richman, and J. Eli Wade-Scott of Edelson PC, Matthew R. McCarley and Christopher Michael Brown of Fears Nachawati, PLLC and Amy M. Carter and Heather V. Davis of Carter Law Group, P.C.
The ADT Security Camera Privacy Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Doty v. ADT LLC, et al., Case No. 0:21-cv-60715-XXXX, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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9 thoughts onADT Customers Spied on Through Home Cameras Want Class Action, Not Settlement Money
This company obviously has a policy in place to lie to the customer to avoid issues. I was lied to today bye 2 employees as well as a sneaky bait and switch on my services at the time of the contract. I was told 36 month residential service contract and a 60 month equipment contract to pay for equipment. I am now being told it was 60 months for both. Brenda Brown manager at adt confirmed that the other employees lied about equipment I was charged for that was never installed. I am disgusted that a security company has so many integrity issues within.
Please add me. ADT is at the top of my list for false advertising, false promises and refuses to let us cancel. They have NO integrity at all.
I’ve had adt for about 2-3 years there’s things that have been a bit off. My family has fault strange
Please add me, I had the ADT security system in my home I purchased for many years.
Add please
Please add me!
Add me!
I had the ADT security system in my home I purchased for many years.?add me
Add me