NEWARK (CN) - A mother who agreed to be filmed for an educational video on breastfeeding, with the understanding that neither her name nor her child's would be mentioned, says she was "mortified and shocked" to find the video, using her name, posted on the Internet, with "link after link linking her name to pornography and pornographic websites."
The mother, M.S., sued Meredith Corp., Meredith Video Studios and Parent TV for fraud, privacy invasion, breach of contract and other charges, in Federal Court.
She says a "lactation consultant" helped her after she gave birth to her daughter, A.S., in December 2009. "Thereafter, the lactation consultant approached M.S. and told her that she was engaged by Parent TV to appear in an educational/instructional breastfeeding video," according to the complaint.
M.S. says that despite "some serious trepidation," she agreed to do the video "because she felt her own personal experience would be insightful and helpful to other first-time mothers who are considering breastfeeding."
They did the video at the lactation consultant's home in New Jersey, M.S. says. She adds: "The woman in charge of the video production specifically represented to both, M.S. and the lactation consultant, that the finished video would not disclose, either audibly or visually, the full name (first and last) of either M.S. and/or A.S. She also represented that the breastfeeding video would be used for educational and instructional purposes only and that the video would be shown on their website and cable TV."
She says she agreed to do the shoot, "based on these representations," and that she did it "without seeking compensation, celebrity status or publicity."
Then, according to the complaint: "After the shoot was complete, M.S. packed up A.S. in her car seat and was about to leave the premises. The woman in charge told M.S. that she had to sign a piece of paper that was on a kitchen counter top. She asked M.S. to sign the paper on behalf of herself and A.S. She did not ask M.S. to read it first before she signed it. She did not advise M.S. that she should have an attorney review it before she signed it. She did not explain to M.S. the content of the paper. M.S. believed that she was signing a paper, which confirmed what had been represented to her in the morning before the shoot.
"Without reading or reviewing the paper, she signed the paper.
"Months went by and no one had contacted M.S. about the airing of the video. M.S. has previously worked in public relations for all types of companies. As a result, she occasionally searched her name and the companies she worked for, through the Google search engine.
"In early July 2010, she decided to Google her name. When she typed in her full name, she was horrified to view what the Google search revealed. The first page of the search revealed link after link linking her name to pornography and pornographic websites.