Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New Hampshire

Civil Rights or Medical Privacy Violated?

This is kind of complicated so I'll try to keep it simple. My husband was being investigated by the federal government and during the investigation they went through our garbage. They found papers indicating a medical condition that I had. While interviewing various friends of my husband's one of the investigators revealed this confidential and personal medical information to at least one person that we know of. Is this in any way a violation of my civil rights or medical privacy? I realize this is probably not a normal question but it bothers me greatly since I have absolutely nothing to do with their investigation.


Asked on 9/07/05, 3:47 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Evan Fray-Witzer Law Office of Evan Fray-Witzer

Re: Civil Rights or Medical Privacy Violated?

Wow. What an interesting question. As a threshhold matter, simply going through your trash is generally *not* considered a violation of your civil rights because there is no "expectation of privacy" in your trash once you put it out at the curb. Having said that (and with the caveat that I have not tried to research this particular issue in NH), I do think that there may be a cause of action for invasion of privacy and the common law tort of public disclosure of private confidential facts. The devil, of course, is in the details, but it does sound like you may have something worth pursuing.

Evan

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Answered on 9/07/05, 3:53 pm


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