Hidden camera recorded patients, kids at chiropractic office, suit says. Now 17 sue
An email sent to patients of a California chiropractic clinic informed them that a hidden camera was found inside an office bathroom and a chiropractor was arrested, according to a new lawsuit.
Dr. Nicholas Vanderhyde, 40, who was arrested in June, is accused of “strategically” hiding the camera in a cabinet to record patients, including children, and their families undressing at The Joint Chiropractic’s office in Valencia, a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County says.
One patient, Alexandra F., was “in shock” when she learned about the camera while on a field trip with her youngest daughter, she said in a statement provided by her attorneys.
“My husband and I visited this clinic frequently, and we would often have our young children with us,” Alexandra F. said. “Knowing what I know now, I am traumatized by the disgusting violation committed against the many people and families (including my own) that went to this clinic.”
She is one of 17 patients suing Vanderhyde and The Joint Chiropractic, which runs hundreds of chiropractic offices in the U.S. Four of the patients are minors, a complaint dated July 29 shows.
According to the complaint, The Joint Chiropractic knew Vanderhyde was a sexual “predator” before another employee discovered the camera, equipped with a battery pack, inside a cabinet.
While the business’ email to patients said the camera had been in place for a few days in May, Vanderhyde’s patients believe it had been there for longer, according to the complaint.
Information regarding Vanderhyde’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
“Once we learned of this incident, we acted immediately. We launched our own internal investigation and cooperated fully with law enforcement,” Margie Wojciechowski, a spokeswoman for The Joint Chiropractic, told McClatchy News on July 31.
“The part-time employee in question was initially placed on administrative leave with no further access to our clinics, and subsequently his employment was terminated,” Wojciechowski said.
The company reported Vanderhyde to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners in California, she added.
The Joint Chiropractic declined to comment further, citing an ongoing criminal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
McClatchy News contacted the sheriff’s department for more information on Aug. 1 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
‘Rogue behavior’ and abuse
According to the lawsuit, The Joint Chiropractic allowed Vanderhyde to continue seeing patients despite his history of inappropriate behavior, which the business acknowledged in the email to patients.
Though he’s a chiropractor, he’s accused of “treating patients in his rogue fashion,” and once insisted on massaging a patient’s inner thigh as an apparent treatment for a pinched nerve, the complaint says.
He touched the patient’s vagina during this incident while pretending the pinched nerve “was the root of her numbness in her hips and leg,” according to the complaint, which says this was not true.
Another patient “experienced improper massage of the buttocks that Dr. Vanderhyde also posed as proper treatment,” the complaint says.
In addition to sexual abuse, Vanderhyde sexually harassed another patient during multiple office visits by commenting on her body and comparing her to his wife, according to the complaint.
He is also accused of sexually harassing his female employees and stalking them online, the complaint says.
In the email The Joint Chiropractic sent to patients about Vanderhyde’s arrest, the business acknowledged authorities had been investigating him for inappropriate behavior, the complaint shows.
The business wrote that “approximately 20 patients may have been impacted between May 6 and May 8” by the hidden camera.
When Alexandra F. responded to the email asking to speak with someone, saying she and her 7-year-old daughter used the office’s bathroom on May 6, the complaint says the company ignored her.
Vanderhyde was arrested on a charge of unlawful possession of obscene matter knowing it depicts a person under the age of 18 years engaging in or simulating sexual conduct, according to the complaint.
The day of his arrest on June 4, he was released from jail because he posted bail, inmate records show.
Alexandra F. fears the possibility that Vanderhyde captured and shared images of her children in the bathroom, the complaint says.
“The doctor’s unchecked, rogue behavior not surprisingly escalated to the point where he felt confident to place a hidden camera,” one of the attorneys representing the case, Janna M. Trolia of Ikuta Hemesath LLP, said in a statement.
The Joint Chiropractic is accused of failing to supervise Vanderhyde and protect his patients.
“I don’t know how I will ever be able to trust a practitioner again,” Alexandra F. said.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks relief for non-economic damages, medical damages and more.
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Hidden camera recorded patients, kids at chiropractic office, suit says. Now 17 sue."
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