Ex-Marion County official accused of secretly recording couple in their hotel room

A lawsuit filed against Marion County government and one of its former high-ranking officials seeks $1 million in damages. At issue: the official's alleged effort to secretly record a married couple inside their hotel room.

Mount Dora lawyer Anthony F. Sabatini filed the five-page lawsuit July 1 on behalf of plaintiffs Ashley Greene, Patrick Kirkowski and Danielle Anderson. The defendants are Kyle Drummer, who is the county's former director of public safety communications; and Marion County government.

Kirkowski and Greene are married. Anderson and Kirkowski are employed by the county. At the time of the incident, Anderson and Kirkowski worked in the public safety department under Drummer's supervision.

What happened in the hotel room?

According to the lawsuit, on April 14, Kirkowski and Anderson went to National Harbor, Maryland, to attend a public safety conference for telecommunications workers and dispatchers. Greene accompanied her husband. Drummer also attended the conference.

Everyone stayed at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel and the plaintiffs were given their room keys by Drummer, who handled the hotel check-ins, the suit says.

On April 18, several days into the trip, Kirkowski and Greene were in their hotel room about 2 a.m. when they found a video recording device hidden behind a picture frame on the wall facing their bed, the lawsuit states.

They removed the device and played back the recorded footage. It showed Drummer placing the device and concealing it, according to the lawsuit.

Anderson is listed as a plaintiff because she at some point had been inside the couple's hotel room and was also "video recorded on the hidden device," the suit says.

Seeking $1 million in damages

The suit alleges invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of severe emotional distress and negligent hiring or retention.

The plaintiffs "have suffered damages," the suit says. It calls Drummer's actions "highly offensive and an unreasonable intrusion."

"Defendant Drummer knew or should have known that his actions would likely result in emotional distress. Defendant Drummer's conduct was outrageous, beyond all bounds of decency, atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Defendant Drummer's actions resulted in Plaintiffs' severe emotional distress," according to the lawsuit.

For the county, the lawsuit states Drummer's "acts took place within the course, time, and scope of Defendant Drummer's performance of his employment duties. The acts occurred during a work conference being attended by Defendant and Plaintiffs as part of their employment obligations."

"Plaintiffs were in a zone of risk that was reasonably foreseeable to Defendant Marion County. Defendant Marion County failed to properly supervise Defendant Drummer. Defendant Drummer used his authority as supervisor to obtain Plaintiffs' hotel room key in order to enter and place the hidden recording device," according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs seek $1 million in damages.

County officials told a Star Banner reporter that Drummer was hired on Feb. 13, 2012, and his date of separation was April 25, 2024.

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The reason given for his separation was that he resigned, county officials said. At the time of his departure, his annual salary was $124,696.

"This case is in litigation at this time. To ensure the integrity of the case for all involved, we will not discuss details before a final decision has been reached," county officials said in a statement to the Star Banner.

The Star Banner has tried to contact Drummer by phone and Facebook, but so far has received no response.

Contact Austin L. Miller at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Marion County Florida: Ex-official accused of hiding recording device