An Important Minnesota Ruling on Invasion of Privacy

Medical information was obtained regarding sexually transmitted diseases and an apparent adulterous affair, which “news” was posted on a MySpace page. The posting was brief and the number of people who saw the private information gleaned from hospital medical records presumably small. For that and other reasons, the trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals, in a published decision released today, held “that the publicity element of an invasion-of-privacy claim is satisfied when private information is posted on a publicly accessible Internet website.”

Also, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that Minnesota privacy laws related to medical records, Minn. Stat. 144.291, is not preempted by the federal HIPAA statute (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).