Fox 12 News | By Soyoung Kim | May 1, 2023
A target employee is facing charges for invasion of privacy after allegedly filming a mom and her four-year-old son inside the bathroom at a local store.
The mom said she feels compelled to share their experience to keep others safe.
The family said it happened at the Target on Southeast Sunnyside Road in Clackamas. They said they don’t feel enough was done to help protect them.
The mom said it started as a Wednesday like any other on November 30th, 2022 when she went to Target with her four-year-old son to find a birthday gift for her husband.
According to court documents, they went to the women’s restroom and as they were unlocking the stall door to exit, they noticed a phone with its camera lens pointed at them.
The documents said they rushed out of the stall and found Connor Barton, a target employee, “frantically swiping on his phone.” The mom said she confronted Barton and spoke with store management. And said management didn’t offer to call the police and said Barton was allowed to return to work. So, the mom called police and when deputies arrived, they questioned Barton and took his cell phone.
The mom said she felt her only option to seek justice was to get an attorney.
“Completely changed who I am at my core,” the mom said. “The day after, I did not get a call from this store to apologize or to ask how my family was doing. Instead, I got a call from a third-party insurance company asking to talk about the incident to get a report from me. I don’t know what they were going to ask me, but I could only assume they were trying to have me sign something to stay silent, to bury this.”
“The DA was very limited in their abilities to hold this defendant accountable, so by filing this lawsuit, by naming him, we’re hoping to hold not only him accountable, but also his employer. The reason we had to file this lawsuit is because when the plaintiff came to us, Target hadn’t done anything, they didn’t apologize, they didn’t accept any responsibility. In fact, the defendant, Connor James Barton, went back to working on the floor in a Santa hat,” Emily Templeton, the family’s attorney, said.
In the lawsuit, they’re asking for $5 million – they said to send a big message.
FOX 12 reached out to Target for comment and they say they’re not able to comment on pending litigation.
