Hospital's actions disputed: Nurse suing Wyoming Valley Healthcare over disclosure of record, name

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.timesleader.com/news/20080130_30suit_dw_ART.html

Hospital’s actions disputed
Nurse suing Wyoming Valley Healthcare over disclosure of record, name in labor case.

By David Weiss [e-mail]
Court Reporter

WILKES-BARRE – A hospital official had no legitimate reason to publicly disclose confidential information from a nurse’s work record, an attorney said.

But once the official publicly identified the nurse who failed to take a patient’s vital signs, it had a severe negative impact on the nurse’s reputation, the attorney, Kimberly Borland, said in his opening statements to a jury Tuesday.

Borland is representing the nurse, identified only as Jane Doe, in her lawsuit against Wyoming Valley Health Care System over the disclosure made during a National Labor Relations Board hearing in 1996.

The suit made it to trial Tuesday before Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Hugh Mundy. The jury heard opening statements and testimony. Testimony will resume and end today before deliberations begin.

Borland is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, claiming the hospital invaded Doe’s privacy during the labor hearings.

The hearings were conducted regarding a request by nurses to conduct a union election. During the public hearings, hospital official Mary Beth Komnath testified that Doe, who was part of the union organizing committee, failed to take a patient’s vital signs as she was ordered to in March 1996.

FULL story at link.