Highlights
- The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it failed to prevent a former employee from secretly recording women and children in office restrooms.
- The lawsuit seeks to hold TPCi accountable for alleged supervisory failures, raising questions about workplace safety and oversight.
- The former executive, Ben Tsai, was previously charged in January 2026, due to similar recording incidents.
The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit after its former engineering director was accused of hiding cameras in office bathrooms. A woman identified in court filings as Jane Doe filed the civil lawsuit in King County Superior Court.
The complaint names Ben Tsai, 45, as a defendant and accuses him of secretly recording women and children in restrooms at the company’s office at TPCi’s Bellevue, Washington. Doe also seeks to represent anyone who used its bathrooms between 2017 and July 25, 2026, the period covered by the proposed class, TMZ reported.
TPCi refused to comment on the ongoing legal process, according to The Seattle Times and Dexeto’s reports. In a statement, a company spokesperson said, “Our focus remains on the well-being of our employees.”
The lawsuit also alleges that TPCi failed to properly supervise Tsai for his conduct and protect the plaintiff. It additionally claims that Tsai violated Washington’s antidiscrimination law by recording women and minors, with the intention to distribute the content.
Inside the Case Against the Former Pokémon Company Employee
Tsai’s alleged conduct first surfaced in October 2025, when a manager at a Kirkland Starbucks found a camera hidden beneath a bathroom sink, pointed at the toilet. Investigators traced the device to Tsai using security footage and a credit card purchase, Dexerto reported.
He was charged with first-degree voyeurism in January 2026. Prosecutors later added charges of dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A forensic review of devices seized from Tsai’s home reportedly turned up dozens of videos.
The Pokémon office restrooms’ videos, counted at 89, were labeled as Pokémon 27 and Pokémon 29. The Kirkland Police Department discovered footage taken from the Kirkland Starbucks, a Safeway store, and his own residence, as per charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, his attorney, Bradley Barshis, confirmed. Barshis said, “My client has entered and will enter pleas of not guilty to all charges, meaning he is presumed innocent throughout these cases.”
Tsai is currently being held at Kent’s Maleng Regional Justice Center on a $500K USD bail. For now, the allegations remain before the courts. The proceedings against Tsai and the newly filed civil lawsuit will determine whether the claims are substantiated and whether TPCi bears legal responsibility for the alleged failures outlined in the complaint.
Even though the lawsuit is unrelated to TPCi’s publishing, gaming, or licensing activities, it places one of the world’s largest entertainment brands under renewed legal scrutiny. Based in Bellevue, Washington, TPCi manages the Pokémon brand outside Asia, overseeing the games, Trading Card Game, animation distribution, and consumer products across many international markets.
Through decades of work, Pokémon has established itself as a family-oriented children-friendly company. With the alleged crime violating women's and children's safety, the brand’s family-positioning is likely to get questioned, as the litigation proceeds. One of the plaintiff’s attorneys, Alex Dietz, said that TPCi needs “to take steps to protect kids from these known risks.”
