Seventeen patients, including four minors, allege in a lawsuit filed this week that a chiropractor placed a small video camera in a restroom at a Valencia practice and may have secretly recorded them.
Nicholas Vanderhyde, 40, of Santa Clarita, who worked at The Joint Chiropractic, likely recorded them in various states of undress before a clinic employee discovered the camera in May, alleges the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The patients are suing Vanderhyde and the Joint Chiropractic Management Co., which is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and touts itself as the nation’s largest network of chiropractors, for negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, invasion of privacy and other violations.
The suit also accuses Vanderhyde of sexually abusing and harassing patients and clinic staff, alleging the Joint created and exacerbated an environment in which he had “zero fear” and his unorthodox treatment procedures went unchecked.
“The long period of sexual abuse and harassment by Dr. Vanderhyde was allowed to continue while The Joint turned a blind eye to his practices that differed from all other chiropractic care providers at The Joint and from chiropractic practice generally,” said attorney Janna M. Trolia of Ikuta Hemesath LLP, who is representing the patients.
The Joint said in a statement Thursday, Aug. 1, that it acted immediately after learning of the incident, notifying the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and cooperating with the agency’s investigation.
The statement identified the suspect only as an unnamed part-time employee who was placed on administrative leave and banned from the company’s clinics. He has since been fired, and the incident has been reported to the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
“At the Joint Chiropractic, the safety of our patients and staff, and the integrity of the service we provide, are always our highest priorities,” the company said. “As this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we are not at liberty to discuss further.”
The Board of Chiropractic Examiners website revealed no previous disciplinary records for Vanderhyde.
Vanderhyde, who the lawsuit claims is the only provider at the clinic, did not respond to requests for comment.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested Vanderhyde on June 4 on suspicion of unlawful possession of obscene material depicting a person under the age of 18. He was released from jail after posting $5,000 bail. No formal charges have been filed and the case is being reviewed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A clinic employee found the camera inside a bathroom cabinet facing a toilet used by patients and staff, Trolia said. A cord from the camera was fed through a hole to a battery pack on the backside of the cabinet.
Although it has not been determined how images were transferred, such as through a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection, the setup indicates the camera recording was shared to another device or app, Trolia said.
The Joint emailed patients on June 12 that an employee had found the camera and reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Department.
The discovery of the hidden camera stunned some patients-turned-plaintiffs, who say their trust in Vanderhyde has been eroded.
One plaintiff, identified in the suit as Alexandra F., a 39-year-old resident of Valencia, said she and her 7-year-old daughter had both used the clinic’s restroom shortly before the camera was discovered.
“I remember Dr. Vanderhyde high-five-ing my kids, patting them on the back, and letting them try out some of the instruments there to see how they worked,” she said in a statement. “Knowing what I know now, I am traumatized by the disgusting violation committed against the many people and families, including my own, that went to this clinic.”
Vanderhyde seemed “nice and caring,” said a plaintiff identified as John Doe, a 33-year-old film industry professional from Valencia,
“Discovering that he secretly placed a camera in the bathroom to spy on patients has been deeply distressing,” the plaintiff said. “It’s shocking to think that someone in such a respected and trusted position could commit such a terrible and illegal act.”
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The suit states Joint allowed Vanderhyde to treat patients in a “rouge fashion” outside of the “general practices” of a chiropractor, which constitutes sexual battery.
Vanderhyde allegedly insisted on an upper and inner thigh massage and touched the vagina of at least one patient, purportedly to treat a pinched nerve causing numbness in her hips and leg.
Ultimately, Trolia alleges, Vanderhyde felt emboldened to ratchet up his improper behavior.
“It’s not surprising that someone with behavior like his would escalate to spying on his patients and their children in the bathroom,” she said. “Many of our clients ignored their gut feelings about the strange treatment methods because they trusted Dr. Vanderhyde and The Joint to provide professional services. In hindsight, they wish they would have listened to their gut.”
