THE WOOANDS, Texas – A $100 million class action lawsuit has been filed against Memorial Hermann Hospital The Woodlands Medical Center and the hospital’s former patient care director, who was arrested last month after being accused of placing hidden cameras in restrooms at the hospital.
Robert Shrader, 41, secretly placed hidden cameras in hospital restrooms to record nurses, fellow employees and patients, according to court documents.
Houston attorney Tony Buzbee says he has filed the class action lawsuit on the behalf of five hospital employees and thousands of individuals from in and around Texas who used the restrooms at the hospital when the cameras were placed.
“When I say gross invasions of privacy, I mean it in the most rudimentary way,” said Attorney Meredith Drukker Stratigopoulos. “Hidden cameras in bathrooms. There is nothing more private than that.”
This class action case seeks remedy for invasion of privacy and approximately $100 million.
The plaintiffs include phlebotomists, lab staff, and a medical equipment contractor who say they unknowingly used the restrooms where cameras were hidden.
They claim they’ve suffered embarrassment, distress, and lasting emotional trauma after learning they may have been recorded.
Memorial Hermann is also being sued in the class action lawsuit after Stratigopoulos says they neglected to check the broken ceiling tiles where the hidden cameras were for reportedly months, according to law enforcement.
“That’s really what triggered our interest in moving forward against Memorial Hermann,” she said. “We would hope whoever is inspecting or maintaining that facility would notice and they would ask questions about.”
This isn’t the first lawsuit filed against Shrader. According to another lawsuit filed earlier in the week, the hospital’s construction team was conducting routine maintenance in August 2025 when it discovered a hidden camera installed in a single-stall bathroom on the second floor.
“This was an outrageous breach of trust and a traumatic violation of my client’s privacy,” said sexual assault attorney Anna Greenberg, who represents the victim in the earlier lawsuit. “My client is coming forward not only to seek justice, but also to give a voice to all the victims whose dignity was taken from them.”
The hospital notified staff of the discovery and confirmed in an internal email that it was placed there by an employee, later identified as Shrader.
Authorities say more than 300 images and videos of at least seven victims were identified from the multiple hidden cameras.
The SD card content revealed footage of Shrader installing the device, as well as recordings of staff and patients in various stages of undress.
Gage Goulding: “How many people do you think we could potentially be talking here in this class action?”
Meredith Drukker Stratigopoulos: “We believe this is going to be a very large pool of claimants. This is certainly a lawsuit that appears to have thousands of claimants. As we sit here today.”
Shrader was arrested and charged with seven counts of felony invasive visual recording. He later posted bond and was released.
Memorial Hermann released this statement to KPRC 2:
“We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter. The criminal conduct undertaken by the former employee occurred outside the scope of his employment, contrary to our policy and without our knowledge.”
KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding went to Shrader’s home, but no one answered the door. A new “for sale” sign is posted in the front yard.
Sharder’s attorney for the criminal case did not want to comment because he’s not representing Shrader in the civil case.