Former Aspen Valley Hospital District worker sues hospital for disclosing HIV status

A former employee of the Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital District is suing the hospital, alleging the organization breached his right to privacy when it disclosed he was HIV positive, according to the Denver Post.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver Tuesday on behalf of a man identified only as John Doe, indicated he was an employee and patient at the hospital. According to court documents, the lawsuit names the hospital and five employees, including the privacy officer, as defendants.

The plaintiff is seeking an apology, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees from the hospital, according to the report. The lawsuit also seeks a policy change at the hospital to prevent further privacy breaches.

The lawsuit says the defendants first breached John Doe's HIV status in 2012 "as a piece of conversational gossip over drinks to human resources co-worker Marlene Saleeby in flagrant violation" of the hospital privacy rule imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1993, according to the report.

"All patients of Aspen Valley Hospital should be very alarmed by this revelation. When a hospital's so-called 'privacy officer' feels free to disclose a patient's most private and sensitive health information as cocktail-hour gossip, no Aspen Valley Hospital patient can assume that their medical privacy will be respected," the plaintiff's attorney, Mari Newman, said in a statement.

After learning of the breach, he filed a complaint, but it was denied after a "sham" investigation, according to the report. He then filed a complaint with HHS in June 2014. Two weeks later, the hospital disciplined John Doe for a "retaliatory act," then demoted him and lowered his pay after he had to take a four-week medical leave. After he filed a third complaint against the hospital, he was fired.

John Doe worked in the hospital's IT department for 11 years before he was fired.

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