Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Nude Photos Bring Suit Against Law Firm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (CN) - A law firm put nude pictures of a former receptionist on its computer server, giving the staff access to the photos, the woman claims in court.

Aubrey Fullmer sued Simpson Logback Lynch & Norris PA fka Holbrook & Osborn PA on Monday, in Federal Court.

Fullmer was a receptionist for the defendant from February until May 30 this year. The firm had no objection, Fullmer says, when she began dating one of its lawyers during that time. Though the complaint identifies this man by name, Courthouse News has redacted that information because of the sensitive nature of the claims and because the individual is not a party to the Nov. 10 action.

After her paramour and other attorneys decided to leave to start their own firm, Simpson Logback terminated him and "confiscated his laptop computer," Fullmer says.

She claims the firm then called up these personal files on the computer, which contained nude pictures of her.

Here it gets a bit tricky.

Fullmer claims the photos were stored on the attorney's "personal GoogleDrive," a cloud-based server. She says the photos never were stored on the laptop's hard drive.

Fullmer claims the law firm's agents "viewed the private and naked photographs of plaintiff without permission or authorization from [the attorney]."

The law firm fired Fullmer about a week after it fired her attorney paramour, Fullmer says, for "texting during working hours."

"Defendant's senior partner Janet Simpson then informed plaintiff that various employees working for defendant saw the naked photographs of plaintiff. Ms. Simpson told plaintiff that plaintiff 'should be more careful' with whom plaintiff chose to date. Humiliated, disgusted and deeply embarrassed, Ms. Fullmer asked if she could leave Ms. Simpson's office and the firm."

After Fullmer left the firm, she says, "defendant moved the naked photographs of plaintiff off of [her paramour's] private GoogleDrive and saved them on to defendant's law firm shared server drive. Once saved there, defendant's entire staff had access to the photographs.

"The access, viewing and sharing of plaintiff's private photographs was unauthorized and done without permission from ... plaintiff" or her attorney paramour.

Fullmer seeks punitive damages for violations of the Stored Communication Act and invasion of privacy.

She is represented by Ben Fadler, with Ketchmark & McCreight in Leawood, Kan.

Follow @@joeharris_stl
Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...