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Home / Sexual Abuse Lawsuits / Northwell Sleep Center
A Northwell Sleep Disorders hidden camera lawsuit may be open to you if you used the bathrooms at Northwell’s Sleep Disorders Center or its STARS rehab facility on Long Island. You went there at a vulnerable moment: to change clothes, to shower, to be monitored overnight, and to trust the people treating you. A former employee hid cameras disguised as smoke detectors inside those bathrooms. He has pleaded guilty.
Roughly 250 lawsuits now ask a different question: how did a major health system not notice for two years? The claims described here mainly involve patients who attended overnight sleep studies at the center. You will not be asked to describe anything private.
A Northwell sleep-study patient?
About 2 minutes · free · confidential
Before anything legal, support is available right now
A lawsuit is never the urgent step. You are. The RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and staffed 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673, with online chat at hotline.rainn.org. If you are in crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.
If a child is being abused now, report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or your local child protective services. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Where you safely can, keep letters, records, names and dates. But your safety and your health come first, always.
Eligibility
The affected group is wider than the notification list. If any of these describe you, a free review is worth the two minutes it takes.
Keep it. That letter identifies you as among those who may have been affected, and it is evidence.
Roughly 2022 through April 2024 at the Sleep Disorders Center or STARS Rehab, even if no letter reached you.
People who went with patients and used the same facilities fall inside the affected group.
Staff who used the affected bathrooms are in the same position as patients for these purposes.
Parents and guardians can pursue claims on behalf of minors, and those claims carry added privacy protections.
That is true of nearly everyone in this litigation. It does not affect eligibility to have the claim reviewed.
Got the letter and never did anything with it?
That is what most people did. A free, confidential conversation tells you what it actually means and commits you to nothing.
You do not have to prove you appear on a recording. These are negligence and privacy-violation claims against the institution, and courts have long recognized that voyeurism victims suffer real, compensable injury even where specific recordings cannot be matched to a person. Meeting these guidelines does not mean you have a valid claim, and a participating law firm decides on its own whether to take a case.
What holds people back, and what is actually true
Most people who received that letter did nothing with it. These are the reasons why.
What holds people back
Without confirmation, people assume they have nothing to bring.
What is true
These are negligence and privacy claims against the institution. The harm flows from the reasonable belief that you were recorded undressed in a place where you were entitled to complete privacy, and courts have long recognized that as a real, compensable injury.
What holds people back
The guilty plea makes it feel like the matter is closed.
What is true
A criminal conviction does not compensate anyone. The civil cases ask how a device disguised as a smoke detector operated in patient bathrooms inside a major health system for roughly two years.
What holds people back
People treat the notification list as final.
What is true
If you attended the Sleep Disorders Center or STARS Rehab during the affected period, your situation can still be reviewed whether or not a letter reached you.
What holds people back
The nature of the intrusion is exactly what keeps people from talking about it.
What is true
The first conversation is about dates and facilities, not about what you were doing in that room. Roughly 250 people have already filed, and these cases are handled with that in mind.
What happened
Between roughly 2022 and April 2024, a former Northwell Health employee, Sanjai Syamaprasad, is alleged to have secretly installed hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors inside bathrooms at the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center and the Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Services (STARS) facility in Manhasset, on Long Island. Patients used those bathrooms to change into sleepwear before overnight studies, to shower, and to get ready for therapy sessions.
He pleaded guilty to unlawful surveillance and to tampering with physical evidence, and in 2025 he was sentenced to five years’ probation rather than jail time. The Nassau County District Attorney publicly said the case deserved jail time.
After the discovery, Northwell Health notified more than 13,000 patients who may have been affected. Approximately 250 civil lawsuits have been filed in Nassau County Supreme Court. They allege that Northwell failed to supervise its employee and failed to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the people in its care. Northwell has said it reported the conduct to the District Attorney and cooperated with the prosecution.
The civil question is a different one
The criminal case addressed what one employee did. The civil cases ask how a recording device disguised as a smoke detector operated inside patient bathrooms, in a major health system, for roughly two years, and who was responsible for the supervision that did not catch it.
Who was exposed
Victims include patients, staff and visitors: adults and, in some cases, minors. Anyone who used the affected bathrooms during the recording period may have been captured, whether or not they ever received a notification letter.
How it happens, in plain words
People often ask how this could happen inside a hospital system. In cases like this one, the same gaps tend to show up. None of them are the patient’s fault.
An employee with keys, badges and a reason to be in private spaces can place a device where outsiders never could.
Cameras built to look like smoke detectors or other fixtures are designed so that nobody looks twice.
Bathrooms and changing areas are private by design, so routine safety checks may skip them.
Without regular audits and oversight of staff, misconduct can continue for months or years before anyone notices.
Your reaction is valid
Even without seeing a recording, many people feel real distress. Courts recognize that the violation itself is a harm.
Healing and support
Learning you may have been recorded in a private moment can shake your sense of safety. These are options that many people find helpful, whether or not they ever file a claim.
General information only. A licensed counselor or doctor can help you choose what fits you.
Right now
RAINN (1-800-656-4673) is free and confidential 24/7. In crisis, call or text 988.
Therapy
A counselor trained in trauma can help with anxiety, intrusive thoughts and hypervigilance after a violation like this.
Sleep
Sleep trouble is common after this kind of breach. A trusted doctor can help, including with any sleep care you still need.
Medical care
It is okay to ask how a clinic protects privacy, to bring someone with you, or to choose a different provider.
For children
A child therapist can help a young person in a way that fits their age, with parents involved.
Your pace
If you have Northwell’s notification letter, keep it. Your appointment dates help too. A firm can gather the rest.
Quick self-check
You do not need to describe anything private. If you can say yes to most of these, a free, confidential review is worth asking for.
Did you, or your child, visit the Sleep Disorders Center or STARS Rehab?
Was it roughly between 2022 and April 2024?
Did you use a bathroom or changing area there, or get Northwell’s letter?
Has learning about the cameras affected your peace of mind or daily life?
Requirements
You do not need any of this to start. A firm gathers it for you. But every claim is built on these four things.
You were there
Visit dates, appointment records or the letter.
A duty was owed
Northwell owed you privacy and safe facilities.
The failure
Records on supervision and how devices went unseen.
Filed in time
Under New York deadlines, which can be short.
Case status
Roughly 250 civil claims are moving in Nassau County Supreme Court. Firms are still reviewing new claims from patients, visitors and staff.
Why filing alongside the existing wave matters
When a large group of claims is litigated together, the discovery, the expert work and the negotiating power develop as a group. Claimants who arrive after that is settled have less influence over it. New York deadlines apply to these claims and are not the same as the extended windows that exist for childhood sexual abuse. That makes timing a more immediate question here than on most of the other claims we review.
Devices allegedly installed
Hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors are placed in bathrooms at the two facilities.
Cameras discovered
The devices are found and the employee is reported. Northwell later notifies more than 13,000 patients.
Civil suits filed
About 250 lawsuits are filed in Nassau County Supreme Court against Northwell.
Guilty plea and sentence
The former employee pleads guilty to unlawful surveillance and evidence tampering and is sentenced to five years’ probation.
Claims still under review
No settlement has been announced. New York deadlines continue to run.
This is not legal advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. If you think a device may be recording you anywhere right now, leave the area if you can and contact the police.
Compensation
The injury here is the violation itself, and what it did to your ability to feel safe in a medical setting.
No one can tell you what a claim is worth, and no one can promise you will recover anything. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
The process
Nothing happens that you do not agree to, and you decide what to share and when.
Which facility, roughly when you attended, and whether you received a letter. Nothing more. Free, no obligation.
Usually within a day. You decide what to share and when, and you can stop at any point without explaining why.
Northwell’s notification records, appointment and treatment records, the criminal file and the facility’s own internal reports.
Filed in Nassau County Supreme Court alongside roughly 250 existing claims, with privacy protections sought where appropriate.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Share only what you choose.
Filing deadlines
New York deadlines apply to these claims, and they are not the extended windows that exist for childhood sexual abuse. Privacy, negligence and emotional-distress claims run on their own, much shorter clocks. That is why the roughly 250 filed cases moved quickly after the April 2024 discovery.
The long lookback rules that apply to child sexual abuse do not govern these claims. Do not assume you have years.
When you learned you may have been affected, often the date of Northwell’s letter, can be important to the analysis.
Where the affected person was a child, the timing rules and the court approval requirements are not the same as for adults.
Arriving after the existing wave has shaped discovery and negotiation is a strategic cost as well as a legal one.
People often guess their deadline, and they often guess wrong, in both directions. It costs nothing to have someone check.
This is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a calculation of your deadline. Filing deadlines are set by state law, differ by claim type and defendant, change when legislatures amend them, and can be shortened or extended by facts specific to your situation. Nothing on this page tells you whether your claim is timely. Only an attorney licensed in New York can determine the deadline that applies to you. If a deadline passes, a claim is usually barred permanently regardless of its merits, so the safer course is always to ask early.
Not sure how long you have?
These claims move on ordinary New York deadlines, not extended abuse windows. Finding out takes about two minutes and costs nothing.
The no-fee promise
Participating firms take these cases on contingency. The fee is a percentage of any recovery. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed.
No retainer. No hourly billing. No invoice arriving while you are already paying for therapy. Cost should never be the reason someone never finds out what their options were.
What that covers
What to ask about
Fee arrangements are set by the law firm you sign with, not by Direct2Attorney, and vary between firms and states. Settlements on behalf of a minor generally require court approval and may be placed in a protected account until the child reaches adulthood. Read the agreement and ask questions before signing anything.
Why people use us
You set the pace
Nobody asks you to describe anything. The first conversation is about dates and facilities.
Firms in the Nassau County litigation
We connect you with firms actively handling the Northwell claims rather than starting from scratch.
Private from the first call
Your information is encrypted and handled under our Privacy Policy, and privacy protections are sought in the litigation itself.
No fee unless you recover
Free review, contingency representation, and no attorney fee owed if there is no recovery.
What Direct2Attorney is
A legal marketing and referral service. We check whether your situation matches what participating law firms are looking for, and connect you with one of them if it does.
What Direct2Attorney is not
We are not a law firm, a counseling service or a reporting agency. For support, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673. In an emergency, call 911.
Confidential reviews are open
You do not need to prove you appear on a recording. You do not need the letter, though it helps. You will not be asked to describe anything on this page.
If you used those facilities and want to understand where you stand, that conversation is free, confidential, and yours to end whenever you choose.
What happens after you ask
We check your answers
Usually the same business day
A participating firm may call you
At the time you choose
You decide what comes next
No cost and no obligation, ever
Questions people ask
Still have a question? Ask it on the call. The review is free, and there is no obligation.
Start a confidential review →Potentially, yes. The letter identifies you as among those who may have been affected. You do not need to have seen a camera or a recording — the claims centre on Northwell’s failure to protect patient privacy and the reasonable distress that failure caused.
No. If you attended the Sleep Disorders Center or STARS Rehab during the affected period, your situation can still be reviewed. Notification lists are not always complete.
The criminal case punished the individual. The civil cases ask how a major health system allowed hidden devices to operate in patient bathrooms for roughly two years — and they compensate the people harmed, which a criminal case does not do.
Yes. Parents and guardians can pursue claims on behalf of minors, and claims involving minors are treated with particular seriousness and additional privacy protections. Settlements for a minor generally require court approval.
No. The claim does not turn on that and nobody asks. The first conversation is about which facility you attended and roughly when.
No. Staff who used the affected bathrooms are in the same position as patients for the purposes of these privacy and negligence claims.
Nothing. The review is free and confidential with no obligation. If a participating law firm takes the case, it will normally work on contingency, meaning the fee comes out of any recovery and no attorney fee is owed if there is no recovery.
He pleaded guilty to unlawful surveillance and to tampering with physical evidence, and in 2025 he was sentenced to five years’ probation, with no jail time. The criminal sentence does not compensate anyone. The civil claims against Northwell are separate.
No global settlement had been announced as of October 2026. Anyone quoting a payout figure is guessing. A participating firm can explain where the Nassau County cases stand when it reviews your claim.
In the news
Careful, plain-English articles from our editorial team on new filings, laws and deadlines, and what each one means for survivors.
Official resources
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