Opinion ID: 3021780
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: CAT scan joke

Text: Superintendent Ferner joked to a group of employees that “they had gotten the results of [Weisberg’s] CAT Scan, and as we all knew, there was nothing there.” Def. App. at 121. The District Court dismissed Weisberg’s claim stemming from this incident on the ground that “[m]inor annoyances do not make a federal case.” App. at 33 (quoting Doe v. SEPTA, 72 F.3d 1133, 1137 (3d Cir. 1995)). We agree with the District Court that this joke does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. Moreover, Ferner’s comment did not reveal anything of substance about Weisberg or his medical condition, except for the fact that he had had a CAT scan performed. It goes without saying that no reasonable person could have taken Ferner’s comment at face value to mean that the CAT scan showed Weisberg’s head to be literally empty. As for the “disclosure” of the fact that Weisberg had received a CAT scan, no reasonable jury could conclude that this constituted the disclosure of confidential medical information when Weisberg has not suggested that the fact of his head injury itself was not known among the staff. 17