According to the Florida lawsuit, an employee at Disney’s Hollywood Studios had a history of filming under a skirt or dress at work before the 14-year-old did the same to her.
In addition to facing criminal charges for video eavesdropping, 28-year-old Jorge Diazvega is also facing civil lawsuits.
The complaint was filed March 21 in Orange County by the girl’s grandparents, named Disney and Diaz Vega, and the company says it is negligent because they knew Diaz Vega had a nonconsensual filming habit.
Diaz Vega told deputies that a colleague from Disney’s Animal Kingdom had previously reported Diaz Vega to the supervisor, according to a lawsuit and arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Diazvega said her colleague searched for work phones, but she couldn’t find anything because he took the video on another device, deputies said. The teenage family accused Disney of failing to “take action to properly investigate the case or terminate his employment.”
McClatchy News reached Disney on Monday for comment and did not receive an immediate response. Diazvega’s lawyers declined to comment, citing the pending case.
The 14-year-old Michigan girl visited Orlando theme park on March 30, 2023, when she met Diaz Vega, who works in the store in a section of the park dedicated to Star Wars, along with her grandmother and sister, according to court declarations.
Diazvega approached her family and showed her how to use the toys. The complaint says when he “deliberately” drops the second toy while he holds another toy under his arm.
According to the lawsuit, he bent and picked it up, stuck a phone camera lens under the 14-year-old dress and brushed his shoes and dress.
The girl realized that she “started crying hysterically and screaming,” and then she suffered a panic attack in the bathroom, the complaint states.
Law enforcement did not identify Diaz Vega as a suspect that day, so he went to work the next day and recorded another woman without his knowledge, deputies said. However, someone witnessed the incident and he was arrested, documents said.
According to the affidavit, when deputies interviewed him, it estimated that Diaz Vega had filmed about 600 upskirt videos over the past six years. Deputies said he called them “a candid shot.”
He wrote an apology letter during an interview with the affected girls and women that were included in the affidavit.
“I want to apologise to anyone reading this for taking a candid shot. I’m really sorry. I know what I did and I’m not going to do anything harm. In the days when autism and I were doing it, I didn’t know the consequences. I want everyone to lead a better life than me and forgive what I did.
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He faces two video voyeur charges on March 30 and March 31, 2023, the incident shows records.
The teenage family is seeking damages for negligent employment and maintenance, invasion of privacy and invasion of mental distress, the lawsuit said.
