Judge sets trial over lawsuit filed by T.J. Maxx customer

A state Supreme Court judge has ordered a trial in a lawsuit brought by a T.J. Maxx customer who claims she was unwittingly used as "bait" to catch a man who surreptitiously took pictures up women's skirts.

Judge Hugh A. Gilbert ruled that a jury must determine whether TJX Companies Inc., Framingham, Mass., owed a duty to protect the customer, Svetlana Van Buren, from becoming the victim of an allegedly "foreseeable" crime and a jury must decide the extent, if any, of injuries she suffered as a result.

Ms. Van Buren, formerly of Ogdensburg, now of Nebraska, sued the company for $5 million in June 2007, claiming that security personnel at the 1283 Arsenal St. store knew that a man was taking "upskirt" photos of women in the store, but failed to warn her.

Instead, it is alleged in the suit, security personnel enacted a plan in which they would catch the man in the act on videotape. On June 14, 2006, Ms. Van Buren went into the store to buy coffee and, while shopping, was approached by security personnel and told that someone had taken photos up her skirt and that the act was caught on tape. She was then told to await the arrival of Watertown police.

She contends that when she entered the store, she unknowingly "entered onto a stage" set up by security "to catch this predator on-premises utilizing actual, innocent T.J. Maxx female customers to do so."

Ms. Van Buren, a clinical psychologist, says the store should have used either a female private detective, a female police officer or a female employee who consented to being photographed to set a trap for the man.

She blames T.J. Maxx for, among other things, making her the victim of a crime without her consent and violating her privacy rights. She claims the store failed to provide her with a safe environment and failed to stop a crime from being committed against her when it could have.

According to court documents, T.J. Maxx argued that the only duty imposed on it "was that of a reasonably prudent tenant under the circumstances" and that it satisfied that duty by videotaping the perpetrator and calling the police, which resulted in his arrest. The company denied that it had any authority to detain the man.

The company asked for a summary judgment which, if granted, would have dismissed the action. Judge Gilbert, citing case law, denied the request in documents filed Friday at the Jefferson County clerk's office, stating that questions remain whether T.J. Maxx met its duty to take "reasonable precautions" to secure its premises if it knew, or may have known, that a third party was likely to endanger the safety of people on the premises.

"A trier of fact must determine whether it breached its duty to the Plaintiff and, if so, whether such breach was a proximate cause of injury to the Plaintiff," the judge wrote, setting March 2 as the date of the trial.

Ms. Van Buren claims in her suit that having the secret photos taken of her has caused her physical and psychological pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. She allegedly has experienced sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and feelings of stress and violation, prompting her to seek professional help.

The man who took the photos, Jeremiah L. Williams, was convicted in County Court of second-degree unlawful surveillance and was sentenced in February 2007 to two to four years in state prison. He remains in Riverview Correctional Facility, Ogdensburg, with a parole hearing scheduled for April, according to the state Department of Correctional Services Web site.