Jury awards $2.78 million to nanny with hidden bedroom camera

A jury has awarded $2.78 million to an au pair whose employer used a hidden camera to record her while she slept in their New York home.

A Brooklyn federal court jury ordered Michael and Danielle Esposito to pay Kelly Andrade $780,000 for emotional distress and $2 million in punitive damages for the camera Michael Esposito placed above Andrade’s bed after she moved out in their Staten Island home to care for their four. children.

The September 12 civil verdict settled the lawsuit Andrade filed in 2021 against the Espositos. She earlier settled with the agency that had placed her with the couple, Cultural Care Au Pair of Massachusetts, for an undisclosed amount.

According to court documents, Andrade was living in Colombia when she signed a contract with Cultural Care in 2020. To move to the United States and secure an au pair placement, Andrade had to pay a fee, take caregiving classes children and accumulate 200 hours of childcare experience.

After completing the training, Andrade moved to the United States in March 2021 and was placed in the Espositos’ home, where she was given a bedroom, her lawsuit said.

Andrade noticed over the next few weeks that the smoke detector above her bed was constantly being repositioned.

She examined the smoke detector and found a hidden camera with a memory card containing hundreds of recordings of her nude or dressing and undressing, the lawsuit states.

Andrade “had no knowledge of the surveillance device and did not give the defendant permission or authority to record it in any way,” according to the lawsuit.

Immediately after Andrade discovered the hidden camera, Michael Esposito arrived home and tried to get her to leave the house, the lawsuit states. He locked himself in the bedroom. He tried to break down the door and she escaped through a window, went to the police and filed a complaint against the Espositos.

Michael Esposito was arrested but avoided prison by pleading guilty to a second-degree felony charge of unlawful surveillance. After completing a year of counseling, he was allowed to withdraw his felony plea and plead to a misdemeanor charge of attempted illegal surveillance.

Andrade, now 28 and living in New Jersey, believes justice was not served in the criminal case because Esposito “just got probation and was able to move on with her life,” said an attorney for Andrade. Johnmack Cohen, in an email.

But she is pleased with the civil verdict, Cohen said.

“We hope that Ms. Andrade’s case will inspire other victims of sexual harassment to speak up and seek justice as Ms. Andrade was able to do,” he added.

A lawyer for the Espositos, Michael Gervasi, said the pair were “exploring all post-verdict options, including an appeal.”

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