Derby photographer fined $30K over misrepresented work, botched wedding shoot, DA says
A photographer in Derby has entered into a consent judgment with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office that calls for her to pay $30,000 in civil penalties and spend four years on probation after customers complained that she misrepresented her work and botched a photo shoot.
The DA’s Office accused Caitlin Payne of using other photographers’ work to advertise her business, CP Family Photography, without telling customers that the photos weren’t her own, a Thursday news release from the DA’s Office announcing the agreement says.
One customer complained that Payne sent an unskilled, substitute photographer to a wedding so she could attend a different event — but she didn’t tell the customer that the replacement wasn’t qualified for the shoot, according to the release.
Her alleged actions violate the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, which protects Kansas customers from unconscionable and deceptive business practices.
Payne denies intentionally violating the law but “accepted a consent judgment to resolve the matter,” the DA’s Office said in the news release.
“The agreement calls for Payne to be liable for $30,000.00 in civil penalties, additional investigative expenses, and court costs while on a 48-month probationary period with the Consumer Protection Division,” the release says.
Payne also must pay $2,000 in restitution to two customers, is barred from any further “deceptive or unconscionable” business practices and agreed to cooperate if the DA’s Office receives any complaints about her business in the future.
Payne also has promised to avoid using other photographers’ photos to advertise her business “unless they are clearly and conspicuously disclosed as only a style of photography that she is capable of reproducing,” the DA’s Office said.
Sedgwick County District Judge Deborah Hernandez Mitchell approved the consent judgment on Tuesday.
The DA’s Office urges people looking to hire professionals for services to get the scope of work and any promises in writing, to research professionals through avenues such as the Better Business Bureau, to ask for samples of work and to make sure their references are legitimate.
Anyone paying a deposit or for services in advance should make sure they know whether they are entitled to a refund if there’s a cancellation or unsatisfactory work.
For information on filing a consumer complaint in Sedgwick County, go to www.sedgwickcounty.org/district-attorney/consumer-protection-division.
