A Manhattan jury has awarded $2.78 million to a nanny who discovered she was secretly videotaped by her billionaire boss. In her lawsuit, the nanny claims she discovered hundreds of hours of footage that showed her naked, changing and undressing.
According to a Yahoo News report, Kelly Andrade, 28, came to New York from Colombia in 2021. She was hired by Michael Esposito, 35, and his wife, Danielle, as a housewife to care for their four children. Esposito had installed a camera inside the smoke detector in the room assigned to Andrade.
According to reports, Michael Esposito is a fast food chicken mogul who owns three LaRosa Grill franchises.
In her lawsuit, Andrade claims she was hired by a recruitment agency called Cultural Care Au Pair and was living in Daniel’s parents’ waterfront home on Staten Island while theirs was being renovated.
Shortly after starting the job, Andrade became suspicious of his boss after Esposito frequently tampered with smoke detectors, including one that was moved from its location in the ceiling of Andrade’s room.
Three weeks into her job, Andrade decided to check her smoke detector one day and, to her surprise, discovered a small camera hidden inside, which contained a memory card full of her recordings, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after Andrade discovered the camera, Esposito showed up at her house “looking very nervous and concerned.” Andrade pretended to be asleep to shoo him away, but Esposito continued banging on the door.
Fearing for her life, the nanny jumped out of a first-floor window and escaped, injuring her knee.
She filed a police report the next day and after handing over the footage, Esposito was arrested on March 24, 2021, according to a New York Post report.
During his trial, Esposito was ordered to undergo counseling, placed on probation for two years, and ordered to pay $780,000 in emotional distress damages and $2 million in punitive damages, totaling $2.8 million.
But Andrade is not satisfied with the compensation awarded to him.
She said the damage caused to her was “irreparable” and added: “Given what I’ve been through over the last three years, this is not enough. It’s not good enough.”
Published on 24 Sep 2024, 06:07 IST
