WELLSBURG – Two more civil lawsuits have been filed related to hidden cameras found at Brooke High School.
Both complaints, filed September 4 in Brooke Circuit Court, named the Brooke County Board of Education and former Brooke High School Principal Eric Michael James as defendants. Both allege James secretly recorded female students in locker rooms and changing areas, and one of them seeks class-action status on behalf of potentially numerous students.
The proposed class action also names Superintendent Jeffrey Crook individually and 20 unidentified defendants, alleging school officials had warnings or information about James’ conduct before hidden recording devices were discovered September 2.
West Virginia Regional Jail Authority photo
James was arrested September 3 and faces criminal charges connected to the investigation. The civil filings say law enforcement and school personnel found four concealed recording devices in three areas used by female students: the girls’ physical education locker room, girls’ varsity athletic locker room and a dance-team locker room or dressing area.
The class action alleges James used his position as principal, including his access, keys, credentials and authority over school facilities, to install, operate and access concealed audio and video devices in female-only changing areas.
The seven student plaintiffs, who are not identified by name, contend the devices recorded them while they changed clothes and that the surveillance equipment also intercepted private conversations. The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that James copied, stored, transferred or disclosed recordings and that some recordings may have been made available to other people.
The filing says the extent of the recording, storage and possible dissemination remains unclear because devices and electronic evidence are being examined by law enforcement.
“Even now, the victims do not know the number of recordings made, the duration of the surveillance, the identities of every student depicted, how many copies exist, where those copies are stored, who accessed them, whether files were deleted and are recoverable, or whether any recordings have been disseminated beyond James,” the complaint says.
The plaintiffs seek to represent all female Brooke High students who used affected locker rooms, changing rooms or the dance-team dressing area during the period when a device allegedly installed or controlled by James was operating or positioned for surveillance.
They also seek separate subclasses for students whose images were recorded, whose private communications were intercepted, who were recorded while fully or partially nude, who were minors in alleged sexual depictions and whose recordings were allegedly disclosed to others.
The complaint asks the court for a process to preserve the recordings, identify and confidentially notify students who may have been recorded, restrict access to the materials, prevent further dissemination and ultimately dispose of recordings under court supervision.
It alleges invasion of privacy, violations of the West Virginia Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, statutory invasion of privacy, child sexual exploitation statutes and laws governing the unauthorized disclosure of intimate images. The plaintiffs also seek compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and injunctive relief.
It also alleges the school board, Crook and other employees had received complaints, reports, observations or warnings before September 2 concerning James’ conduct toward female students, his access to female changing areas, potential boundary violations and possible use of recording equipment.
It claims school officials failed to adequately investigate, restrict James’ access to female changing facilities, report suspected abuse or exploitation, warn parents and students or remove James from a position that gave him unsupervised access to students.
The complaint says Crook “personally received material information concerning James’s conduct before September 2026 and consciously failed to take reasonable action sufficient to protect female students from foreseeable harm.”
The lawsuit further alleges the board failed to conduct reasonable pre-employment and retention inquiries, maintain sufficient controls over access to private student areas, inspect facilities for unauthorized devices and enforce safety, reporting and privacy protections.
Crook is sued only in his individual capacity for conduct that the plaintiffs allege was malicious, in bad faith, wanton, reckless or outside the scope of his official duties.
The second lawsuit was filed on behalf of an unidentified 17-year-old Brooke High student and her mother. It says the student regularly used one or more of the affected female changing areas and “reasonably believe(s)” she was within the field of view of, and recorded by, at least one concealed device while she had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The complaint alleges the student suffered loss of privacy and bodily dignity, humiliation, anxiety, fear, emotional and psychological distress, mental anguish and diminished security in school activities. Her mother seeks recovery for past and future medical, psychological, counseling and related expenses incurred before the student reaches adulthood.
That lawsuit alleges negligence, negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision, negligent training, negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, statutory privacy violations, violations of the state wiretapping law, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sex discrimination under the West Virginia Human Rights Act and possible vicarious liability by the school board.
The mother and daughter contend the board failed to adequately oversee access to private student facilities, detect unauthorized surveillance equipment and supervise James. The complaint also alleges that reports or complaints involving James may have been made while he worked at Cameron High School in Marshall County before he was hired or retained in Brooke County.
According to the complaint, a criminal complaint in the related investigation states that an investigator reviewed footage from an initial device and saw a female Brooke High student changing clothes. It also alleges the criminal complaint says another recording showed James handling a pen-shaped device in a locker room and placing it on the floor before another student entered and began undressing. The civil filing says investigators reported the device captured both video and sound, and it says the criminal complaint further reported James admitted placing four devices.
The individual lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, statutory damages, punitive damages against James, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
The class action was filed by Michael Simon, Eric Frankovitch, Kevin Pearl, Carl A. Frankovitch and Casey Wynn of Frankovitch Anetakis Simon DeCapio & Pearl in Weirton. It has been assigned to Circuit Judge David J. Sims.
Last week, three other similar complaints were filed. One of those also is a potential class-action lawsuit.
The individual suit was filed by George Sidiropolis of The Injury Rights Law Firm in Wheeling and by C. Edward Amos II, Brian R. Bowen and Scott S. Segal of The Segal Law Firm in Charleston. It has been assigned to Circuit Judge Michael J. Olejasz.
Brooke Circuit Court case numbers 26-C-86 (class action) and 26-C-87 (individual)
