Md. appellate court upholds dismissal of hidden-camera suit against Rams Head

Maryland’s second-highest court has upheld the dismissal of an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Rams Head Tavern in Savage Mill, saying the three women suing the restaurant never alleged they were customers on the day a hidden video camera was found in the women’s restroom.

The women, who said they frequented the restaurant between 2011 and 2014, claimed they suffered emotional distress upon learning that a fourth woman had discovered the camera on May 9, 2014. But the three women – who sought more than $20 million in damages –conceded they were not at Rams Head that day, leading the Howard County Circuit Court to grant summary judgment for the restaurant.

The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the summary-judgment grant earlier this month in an unreported 3-0 decision.

In July 2015, Rams Head owner Kyle C. Muehlhauser pleaded guilty in District Court in Howard County to having conducted video surveillance with prurient interest on that May day. Two women were videotaped, neither of whom was party to the lawsuit.

Muehlhauser was ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution and placed on three years’ probation.

“It is undisputed that none of the appellants were at Rams Head Tavern on May 9, 2014, the only date on which there exists evidence that Muehlhauser placed a video camera inside a restroom in the establishment,” Judge Alexander Wright Jr. wrote for the appellate court. “Because appellants failed to demonstrate they were videotaped while using the restrooms at Rams Head Tavern or that a video recording device was present while they used that restroom, their claims for intrusion upon seclusion, breach of contract, negligence … and intentional infliction of emotional distress fail.”

Judges Stuart R. Berger and Andrea M. Leahy joined Wright’s opinion.

The Court of Special Appeals rendered its decision in Felicia M. Barlow Clar, Jennifer Kalita and Bernice Bangs v. Kyle C. Muehlhauser et al., No. 0851, September  Term 2016.