An employee has filed a lawsuit against School District 112 in Highland Park after she, along with others, were victims of a student who placed hidden recording devices in bathrooms at Highland Park schools.
The City of Highland Park, North Shore School District 112 and Township High School District 113 said in a joint statement on February 11 that they were working together in response to “troubling incidents” involving unlawful video recording.
Officials said adults and juveniles were victims of the unlawful video recording while they were using restrooms at Edgewood Middle School and Highland Park High School.
The Highland Park Police Department was notified after a staff member discovered a suspicious electronic device in a restroom at Highland Park High School.
It was also determined that there was evidence of prior recording in a restroom at Edgewood Middle School.
A juvenile student was identified as the suspect responsible for placing a recording device or mobile phone in restrooms at both schools.
“At this time, we are confident that the photo and video recording has stopped,” the joint statement said.
Administrators representing both districts said they were working with the Highland Park Police Department to identify and notify students and staff who may have been victims of the recordings.
Dudley & Lake, a Libertyville-based law firm, said a woman who works for the district read about the incident last month and contacted the district.
Attorneys said in a statement to Lake and McHenry County Scanner that they have filed a lawsuit against North Shore School District 112 on the woman’s behalf.
The suspect was an Edgewood Middle School student who frequently videotaped people using the first-floor restroom from May 2023 through June 2024.
The student graduated from the middle school and enrolled at Highland Park High School, at which time the juvenile was able to record additional victims “despite clear warning signs and opportunities for administrators to prevent” the acts, according to attorney Kevin Golden.
Golden said the female victim, employed as a paraprofessional and a resident of Lake County, did not receive any help from the district, so she provided them with a photograph of herself to assist the police in identifying her as a victim.
A review of the recordings by police confirmed that she had been a victim on at least one occasion while in the first-floor restroom of Edgewood Middle School.
“Learning about this gross invasion of the most private space has devastated our client, causing her fear, paranoia, and embarrassment. Even worse than what is known about this incident, is what remains unknown,” Golden said.
The law firm’s statement said the school district and local law enforcement have failed to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation.
“We do not yet know how many videos exist, who has possession of them, or where they were posted. Most troubling, it appears that there has not been any significant effort to identify and notify the victims captured on the recordings,” Golden said.
The lawsuit was filed in Lake County Circuit Court and seeks an unspecified award in excess of $50,000.
A case management conference is scheduled for May 7 in the case.