Dad sues Starbucks over 'hidden' camera in toilet

Starbucks is being sued for $3 million after a man claimed his five-year-old daughter found a video camera hidden in the toilets of one of its outlets.

William Yockey, 28, accuses the Seattle-based global coffee chain of invasion of privacy, negligence, "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and negligent hiring, training and supervision of staff.

Mr Yockey, who visited the US capital in April, "immediately reported this humiliating and disgusting matter" to the manager of the outlet, a few blocks from the White House, said a copy of his lawsuit.

Police roped off the toilets and dusted the camera - tucked inside the U-shaped drain beneath the wash basin, according to the plaintiff - for fingerprints before confiscating it as evidence, according to the lawsuit.

"It's embarrassing, humiliating, even today," Mr Yockey told ABC News, adding that any video of his daughter in the TOILET "could have been all over the internet. She could have been violated".

Mr Yockey's lawyer Hank Schlosberg is asking the District of Columbia Superior Court for a jury trial, $US1 million in compensatory damages and $US2 million in punitive damages just on the invasion of privacy count.

A spokesmen for Starbucks could not be reached for comment, but local weekly  City Paper said the company had tried but failed to get the lawsuit thrown out on grounds that Mr Yockey had not proven any wrongdoing by its employees.

Last May, police arrested a man on suspicion of recording at least 40 women with a hidden camera in a Starbucks in California, while another man was arrested in June for placing a camera inside another Starbucks in Florida.

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