Source: http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/hancock-v-county-of-rensselaer-second-circuit-reinstates-lawsuit-over-improper-medical-records-access
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 19:03:19+00:00

Document:
Hancock v. Cty. of Rensselaer, No. 16-2888, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 3090 (2d Cir. Feb. 9, 2018).
Last week, the Second Circuit issued a decision in an appeal of a judgment from the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, affirming in part and vacating in part the district court’s ruling which granted summary judgment to appellees. Plaintiffs-appellants were employees of the Rensselaer County Jail located in Troy, New York. Troy is also home to Samaritan Hospital, which is the primary provider of healthcare for the Jail’s inmates and employees. Defendants-appellees include, among others, Jack Mahar, the Rensselaer County Sheriff who ran the jail, and Elaine Young, a jail nurse. Appellants allege that Mahar used, or directed someone to use, Elaine Young's password to access appellants’ medical information via Samaritan’s electronic health records system in order to investigate whether Jail employees were violating Mahar’s sick leave policy. No alternative explanation for the unauthorized access was given by the appellees.
Ultimately, because the district court treated the seriousness of the appellants’ medical information as a threshold inquiry, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s ruling and remanded for reconsideration. The Court explained that, on remand, the district court should consider the fact that appellees offered no reason for the breach, and to examine whether Mahar had malicious intent in accessing the records. Finally, the district court should decide whether the appellees are entitled to qualified immunity.
According to Elmer Robert Keach III, an attorney for the plaintiff-appellants, the Court’s decision "makes clear that people have an absolute right to keep their medical records private and protected from governmental review in the absence of compelling circumstances... [and] also makes clear that Sheriff Mahar’s effort to avoid accountability for his repugnant actions to his employees has failed." Sheriff Mahar is no stranger to the court; there are several lawsuits relating to similar breaches of medical information, some pending and some settled. The similar lawsuits include Pasinella v. County of Rensselaer (consent order), Colantonio v. County of Rensselaer (judgment dismissing by reason of settlement), Karam v. County of Rensselaer (order and stipulation of discontinuance), Snyder v. County of Rensselaer (order and stipulation of dismissal), Rogers v. Mahar (order and stipulation of dismissal), and Momrow v. County of Rensselaer (complaint filed). Danielle Sanzone of The Record, a local Troy newspaper, details a similar lawsuit involving the Jail’s unauthorized access to medical records of a nine-year-old girl treated at Samaritan Hospital following a dog bite.
Jack Peterson is a 1L student at Harvard Law School.

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