A New York City jury awarded a hefty sum to a nanny who was secretly filmed by her creepy employer.
Michael Esposito, 35, owner of three LaRosa Grill franchises, was accused of filming 28-year-old Kelly Andrade with a camera hidden in a smoke detector in the live-in nanny’s room.
Esposito has been ordered to pay nearly (US)$2.8 million after Andrade discovered the camera’s memory card which was full of X-rated footage of the woman.
He was arrested in 2021 on a charge of unlawful surveillance, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, the New York Post reported.
But the Staten Island District Attorney and a Staten Island judge set Esposito free on the condition he undergo counselling while on probation for two years.
Andrade sued her boss in 2021 for allegedly secretly filming “hundreds” of explicit videos.
The Colombian woman said in the suit that she spent hundreds of hours training before being hired by Cultural Care Au Pair, who sent her to work in the United States.
She was placed with Esposito and his wife, Danielle, to look after their four children, according to the Post.
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Andrade revealed in the suit that she became suspicious after finding Esposito frequently adjusting the smoke detector in her bedroom.
She inspected the device three weeks into the role and discovered the camera.
The live-in nanny alleged Esposito tried to break her door down when he realized she found the hidden camera. She claimed she jumped out of her bedroom window, fearing her boss was armed with a gun.
Esposito fled to a police station to report him, and handed off the memory card she had found in the camera.
The lawsuit claims it contained “hundreds of recordings” showing her nude or partially dressed, the lawsuit read.
The jury awarded Andrade $780,000 for emotional distress, plus $2 million in punitive damages.
“Right now, I’m working on myself recovering,” Andrade told the Post.
“It wasn’t easy for me to be on a trial,” she added. “It was a very difficult time for me. It brings back memories that I’m trying to forget.”