Teachers File Lawsuit Against Maintenance Company That Hired David Garcia Espinal

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Teachers take action after a middle school janitor is accused of putting cameras in school bathrooms.

Parents at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield said he recorded students.

Investigators said he did the same to teachers.

CBS 2's Chris Tye has more on the lawsuit just filed by 13 teachers.

It's been six weeks, and the man who remains on the run for secretly recording in bathrooms is David Garcia-Espinal. As authorities look for him, those victimized are looking for damages.

For the first time, some of the victims inside Sunset Ridge are speaking out, by way of this just filed lawsuit.

David Garcia-Espinal was employed by two vendors the school used. Job one as a cook. But the teachers are suing Chicago-based Smith Maintenance that hired him as a janitor.

Thirteen teachers, all filing as "Jane Doe" to protect their identity claim that based on background check, or lack thereof that...

"Smith (Maintenance) knew or should have known that Garica-Espinal had a particular unfitness for the position of elementary school custodian."

And that they....

"Suffered severe and personal injuries, and have suffered and will continue to suffer great mental anguish, humiliation and loss of normal life."

Lack of supervision, they said, allowed him to place unnecessary trash cans in bathrooms that already had wall-mounted trash cans.

CBS 2 has exclusively reported that parents have been told by investigators that kids were also recorded in student bathrooms. And last week another teacher sued Smith Maintenance and the company that employed Garcia-Espinal as a cook.

Notably, neither suit has named the Sunset Ridge district as a defendant. Even though it failed to do its own separate background check on Garcia-Espinal as state law requires.

They're seeking more than $50,000 per victim. CBS 2 reached out to Smith Maintenance multiple times. The company provided no comment.