Court Opinion

ID: 9760394
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:52:05.492403+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:11.567366
License: Public Domain

CARL R. GAERTNER, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
The procedural and substantive principles so thoroughly explicated in the majority opinion do not exist in a vacuum. Their viability depends upon a realistic application to concrete facts. In my opinion the facts in this case, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, do not give rise to a cause of action for invasion of privacy.
At the outset I believe it is important to recognize we are concerned with publication of a newsworthy event, a gathering to celebrate five years of successful participation in a “miracle” of modern medical science. There is no contention the publication was inaccurate, defamatory, sensational or lacking in good taste. Plaintiffs were not identified by name nor singled out for special treatment such as a lingering closeup or an isolated picture of them apart from the large group of attendees. Their complaint is predicated solely upon their subjective desire to conceal their partic*504ipation m an undeniably newsworthy program.
The exhaustive discussion in the majority opinion of the history and development of the tort of invasion of privacy demonstrates that liability for publication of private matters is dependent not upon the subjective view of the individual, but rather upon the more objective standard of reasonableness. This objective standard, in my opinion, encompasses each of the elements under consideration: the reasonableness of plaintiffs’ expectation of privacy, the reasonableness of defendants’ awareness that publication would be highly offensive, the reasonableness of defendants’ belief the matter is of legitimate concern to the public. Is it reasonable for plaintiffs to volunteer for participation in the in vitro Fertilization Project, a matter of widespread, international publicity, without recognition of the likelihood of disclosure? Is it reasonable for plaintiffs to accept the invitation to attend the five-year celebration of the program without awareness that their participation would be made known to all those in attendance as well as all who observe them entering and leaving the gathering? Is it reasonable for plaintiffs to maintain an expectation of privacy when, after seeing the cameras and refusing to be interviewed, they remain in the midst of the group of approximately forty people who were all being filmed without objection rather than stepping to the side of the room until the camera was lowered? In my opinion, each question, viewed individually and certainly when considered collectively, requires a negative answer. I do not believe reasonable minds could avoid concluding that by their conduct plaintiffs waived any right of privacy they may have subjectively desired.
Reasonableness is also the hallmark by which the conduct of defendants must be tested. Plaintiffs do not suggest any impropriety in the publicity given to the celebration of the achievements of five years of successful in vitro Fertilization. Assuming the truth of plaintiffs’ allegations regarding their refusal to be interviewed, can defendants be charged with the realization that filming plaintiffs in the midst of the entire group of celebrants would constitute a publication causing humiliation to a person of reasonable sensibilities. See Buller v. Pulitzer Publishing Company, 684 S.W.2d 473, 482 (Mo.App.1984). Having scrupulously observed plaintiffs’ request not to be interviewed, does the showing of plaintiffs’ faces for three seconds in the midst of a group at a newsworthy affair without identification, close-up or other singling out “show a serious, unreasonable, unwarranted and offensive interference with the individual’s private affairs?” Id. I think not. “The law does not protect the overly sensitive, and if a reasonable person would not be humiliated by the publicity, no recovery can be had.” Williams v. KCMO Broadcasting Division—Meredith Corp., 472 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Mo.App.1971).
Finally, the question of legitimate public interest must be viewed through the eyes of a reasonable person. The multitude of cases cited in the majority opinion clearly demonstrates that an individual’s desire of privacy may be frustrated merely because of his innocent, unintentional involvement in a newsworthy event of legitimate public interest. It seems to me the attempt by the majority to distinguish between the appropriate public interest in the subject of in vitro Fertilization and the illegitimate public interest in plaintiffs’ participation therein is vitiated by these authorities. This is particularly true in light of the truly remarkable fact that not one but three fertilized ova were implanted. I do not believe reasonable minds could differ upon the newsworthiness or legitimate public interest in plaintiffs’ involvement in such a scientific accomplishment.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.