According to Entertainment Tonight, the LA Police Department has opened an investigation into 2015 Playmate of the Year Dani Mathers' Snapchat activity after it received a complaint from LA Fitness. It appears that the investigation is centered around an alleged illegally disseminated private image Ms. Mathers took of a fellow gym member inside an LA Fitness club. While Ms. Mathers was in the bathroom/shower area of an LA Fitness gym she took a naked photo of another person and posted it on Snapchat with some negative comments.
Subsequently, the naked photo Ms. Mathers posted went viral and she has gone from being the bully who body shamed a fellow gym member for personal pleasure to a target herself. If the person in the photo comes forward Ms. Mathers could face up to six months in prison for her behavior.
Since Ms. Mathers published the naked photo, she has been suspended from her radio show and banned from all LA Fitness gyms. Online, thousands of people have also stated how disgusted they are about Ms. Mathers' actions.
Ms. Mathers' behavior demonstrates she didn't even realize what she had done was wrong. Her apology shows she doesn't have a clue about the law or proper digital behavior. Ms. Mathers only apologized for posting the photo on Snapchat. She admits in her so called apology that she had the intent to take the naked photo of stranger and share it with her friends. This demonstrates a lack of remorse and understanding of the seriousness of the situation.
People have an expectation of privacy in bathrooms whether they are in a public restroom or a private club. Those who violate this expectation of privacy should be held legally accountable. If Ms. Mathers is sued by the person whom she photographed I wouldn't be surprised if a settlement or judgement is either six or seven figures. The Erin Andrews jury verdict and subsequent settlement is the benchmark to measure these types of privacy violations.
The bottom line is that companies need to better train their employees about these issues because one dumb Snap, Tweet, or Post can create millions in legal liability.
Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.
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