(CBS DETROIT) – Two former employees of Goldfish Swim School in Rochester have filed a lawsuit, claiming the school failed to protect them from a Metro Detroit doctor accused of secretly recording women and children without their consent.
In August, Dr. Oumair Aejaz, 40, of Rochester Hills charged in connection with several sex crimes against adults and children that occurred in his residence, at his workplace and at the Goldfish Swim School. Aejaz is said to have placed hidden cameras in changing rooms, making video recordings of children aged 2 years and older as well as adults.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard says the doctor’s crimes range from videos of a toddler undressing in a swim club locker room to an unconscious woman in a hospital bed being abused by Aejaz.
Two former swim school employees filed a lawsuit Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court. Both women were informed by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in August that they had been secretly recorded while changing clothes at a swim school stall. They say they were required to don swim school uniforms in a community change area.
The women named in the lawsuit are 23 and 21 years old respectively – the first was 20-22 years old when the events occurred, while the second was 18-20 years old.
“Goldfish Swim School failed to take basic safety measures that could have prevented this violation,” said a statement on behalf of the women. “There was no proper supervision and the locker room lacked the necessary privacy safeguards, leaving employees vulnerable.”
“Goldfish Swim shares blame with Dr. Aejaz for betraying our trust and violating our privacy,” the two former employees said in a statement. “As former employees, we were required to undress in shared spaces, creating an environment ripe for predatory behavior. It is critical for Goldfish Swim to acknowledge its role in this situation and take meaningful steps to ensure the safety and dignity of everyone involved. We need to see real change to prevent this from happening again.”
According to the lawsuit, since becoming aware that they were being videotaped without their consent, the two women have “experienced significant physical and emotional harm and harm” and have suffered “anxiety, depression, humiliation, shame, increased stress, loss of appetite, nightmares and sleep disorders.”
The two women are represented by attorneys Megan Bonanni and Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller, who previously represented the survivors of Larry Nassar, the former Team USA gymnastics doctor and convicted sex abuser.
“Goldfish Swim in Rochester has a lot to answer for,” Bonanni said in a statement. “Predators do not operate in isolation; they take advantage of the opportunities presented to them, and Goldfish created an ideal breeding ground for Dr. Aejaz.”
“It is imperative that Goldfish not only takes responsibility, but also implements comprehensive reforms to protect the safety and dignity of all employees and patrons,” said Esser-Weidenfeller. “We demand meaningful changes to prevent such abuses in the future.”
The women are seeking compensation from Goldfish Swim School in Rochester for physical and emotional injuries and asking that the school change its business practices to ensure employees and customers are protected.
Aejaz is an Indian citizen who has been working in the US on a visa since 2011. He was arrested on August 8 after his wife provided material of interest to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
During their investigation, detectives seized six computers, four mobile phones and fifteen external storage devices from Aejaz, including one hard drive with 13,000 videos on it.
“This person is possibly one of the worst I have ever seen because there is no specific category,” Bouchard said. “It’s not just children; it’s not just women. It’s not just men. It goes from a 2-year-old to an adult woman. The victimization is so broad and the perversion is so great that we are only just beginning to reach our arms around it.”
Aejaz has been charged with fifteen crimes, including child abuse, capturing images of unclothed persons and using a computer to commit a crime.
Two victims of Aejaz last week lawsuits filed against two hospitals – Detroit Medical Center Sinai Grace Hospital and Henry Ford Macomb Hospital – where Aejaz treated patients.
Both lawsuits allege that the victims were admitted without their consent and accuse the two hospitals of allowing Aejaz unsupervised access to patients, allowing him to sexually abuse and record thousands of patients over at least six years.
In response to the lawsuit, the DMC issued a statement saying: “The DMC is committed to ensuring a safe environment for all patients who come to us for their care. Dr. Oumair Aejaz has no privileges to admit or care for patients at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital or any other DMC hospital and has not treated patients at DMC since completing his residency in 2015, so we know of no basis for these allegations.
CBS News Detroit has contacted Goldfish Swim School for comment and is awaiting a response.
You can read a full copy of the lawsuit against Goldfish Swim School below.
