Michael Blundell

A Tyler employer was recently arrested on accusations he used a video camera to record an employee as she changed clothes in the workplace bathroom.

Michael Blundell, 46, of Bullard, was charged with invasive visual recording Oct. 22 and released from the Smith County Jail the same day on a $200,000 bond.

An employee reported to Tyler police she found a small camera next to the toilet on the floor of the bathroom she used to change into and out of scrubs for work, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

She took the camera, and Blundell called her to say he put the camera in the bathroom because employees were stealing from the company, the affidavit stated.

The worker told police Blundell asked her to come work one day. and she noticed Blundell took longer than what she expected for him to open the door. He gave her a pair of scrub pants to try on. She showed him how the pants fit, and she went back to change into her regular clothes, according to the document.

When later she went to use the restroom, she found a small camera near the toilet. She left and took the camera with her. She told police Blundell said there was a misunderstanding and he put the camera in the bathroom due to employee thefts, the affidavit read.

The detective found 11 videos on the camera, including ones showing Blundell and the bathroom where the employee found it.

Blundell told police the only thing he noticed missing was the camera in the bathroom. He said he treated the business like a “grocery or department store,” where people use the bathroom to conceal items and that particular bathroom was the closest, private place to do something, according to the document.

He denied recording in the bathroom without others’ knowledge before the incident. He confirmed it was him seen in one of the videos installing the camera near the toilet, the affidavit read.