Opinion ID: 2334690
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Common Law Invasion of Privacy

Text: With the exception of an action for false light invasion of privacy, see West v. Media Gen. Convergence, Inc., 53 S.W.3d 640 (Tenn.2001), this Court has never expressly recognized that a cause of action exists for an invasion of privacy, though we have assumed that Tennessee law recognizes such an action in at least two cases, see Martin v. Senators, Inc., 220 Tenn. 465, 418 S.W.2d 660 (1967); Langford v. Vanderbilt Univ., 199 Tenn. 389, 287 S.W.2d 32 (1956). The Court of Appeals, on the other hand, has recognized that an unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another is actionable in this state and that the scope of this tort is parallel to that contained in section 652B of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. See Roberts v. Essex Microtel Assocs., II, L.P., 46 S.W.3d 205, 211 (Tenn.Ct.App.2001). Although we reach no decision as to whether the other forms of invasion of privacy listed in the Restatement (Second) of Torts are actionablethe plaintiff's complaint does not raise issues related to commercial appropriation or unreasonable publicitywe agree with the Court of Appeals that a plaintiff may recover damages in Tennessee for an unreasonable intrusion into his or her private affairs. As the Roberts Court held, `One who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.' See id. at 211-12 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B). No especial publicity needs to be given to the plaintiff or to the plaintiff's affairs, and a cause of action may be stated where the plaintiff shows an intentional, and objectively offensive, interference with his or her interest in solitude or seclusion. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B cmt. a. Further, as comment c to section 652B provides, The defendant is subject to liability under the rule stated in this Section only when he has intruded into a private place, or has otherwise invaded a private seclusion that the plaintiff has thrown about his person or affairs. Thus there is no liability for the examination of a public record concerning the plaintiff, or of documents that the plaintiff is required to keep and make available for public inspection. The essential question to be answered with respect to this issue, then, is whether the complaint has pled facts showing that the Richardson Firm invaded a private seclusion that the plaintiff has thrown about [her] person or affairs. Because a plaintiff cannot seek damages for intrusion into seclusion when he or she is required to make the allegedly private information available for public inspection, a plaintiff must allege and prove the following essential elements: (1) that the information sought by the opposing party was not properly discoverable or was otherwise subject to some form of privilege; (2) that the opposing party knew that the information was not discoverable or was subject to privilege, but nevertheless proceeded to obtain that information; (3) that the obtaining of such information would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and (4) that injury was suffered from the invasion of privacy. The plaintiff here alleges none of these elements in her complaint, and she concedes that the substance of her medical information became discoverable, and subject to public disclosure, as soon as she filed a complaint seeking damages for physical injuries. However, no successful claim for invasion of privacy can rest only upon the technical defects in the process used to obtain that information, and a plaintiff must aver and prove that the defendant tried to obtain information that it knew was non-discoverable or subject to privilege. Therefore, because the plaintiff concedes that her medical information here was discoverable, we must hold that the plaintiff has failed to state a claim for common law invasion of privacy by intrusion into seclusion.