Fifth lawsuit filed in Ruby Memorial restroom camera case
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MORGANTOWN - The flurry of employee lawsuits filed in response to a camera found in a Ruby Memorial Hospital employee restroom continues.
On Nov. 11, a registered nurse identified as H.B., or Ms. B., filed suit in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
It names West Virginia University Hospitals Inc., West Virginia University Medical Corporation and West Virginia United Health System Inc. as defendants.
The suit states Ms. B is a resident of Greene County, Pennsylvania, who has worked at Ruby Memorial since November 2014. In February 2022, Ms. B transferred to the pre-operative and post-anesthesia care area on 2 West, where the camera was found by facilities personnel on June 26 in a staff restroom in Area E, the pre-operative area for the Endoscopy suites.
Ms. B was assigned to Area E that day.
At about 11 a.m., she used the staff restroom before taking her lunch break.
It was during her break that another nurse entered the break room and informed her that a camera had just been found in the staff restroom.
Days later, on July 2, Ms. B was contacted by a detective from the Morgantown Police Department who informed her that she was one of eight people identified on the recording device.
"He told her that the device had been placed at about 7 a.m. on June 26, 2026, that it had saved its recordings from that morning to a storage drive, and that it did not appear to have transmitted them. He did not tell her how many times she had been recorded," the suit states.
In reference to Dr. Lance Parks, who was identified using the camera's recorded footage as the individual who placed it, the lawsuit corroborates information included in other court filings, specifically that Parks had no patients in Area E, but was continually in and out of the area all morning.
The suit states that behavior was common for Parks, who would spend much of his time at the nurses' station within eyesight of the staff restroom in question.
Parks, who began practicing as an attending anesthesiologist at Ruby Memorial in July 2011, was suspended the same day the camera was located and subsequently fired and arrested.
He is facing eight misdemeanor counts of criminal invasion of privacy based on the footage found on the camera placed in the 2W Area E staff restroom, and one felony count of distribution and exhibiting computer-generated child pornography based on evidence turned up during the execution of a search warrant at his residence.
The lawsuit indicates there was "a culture of sexual harassment and misconduct by physicians toward female employees," that was tolerated by the defendants. It also states the defendants should have been aware that hidden recordings made in staff restrooms was a known hazard, pointing to July 2025 incidents at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, which operates under the WVU Medicine name.
H.B. is suing for violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act (sexual harassment – hostile work environment); violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act (unlawful discrimination); negligent hiring, supervision, and retention; negligence (premises security); and invasion of privacy (intrusion upon seclusion).
She is being represented by attorneys Rodney Smith and Sean Cook.
Hers is the fourth lawsuit filed in response to the discovery of the camera since Nov. 3, and fifth overall including a Sept. 1 class action filing.