Ohio Woman Sues Over STD Diagnosis Ex-Boyfriend Shared on Facebook

A woman in Ohio is suing a hospital after her ex-boyfriend posted the results of an STD test to Facebook.

A 20-year-old woman filed a lawsuit against the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (where she was diagnosed with syphilis) and two other people, Raphael Bradley, 28, and Ryan Rawls.

Her lawsuit claims her ex-boyfriend, Bradley contacted Rawls, who worked at the hospital and got her to give him the results of her test. Via WFMJ:

She says she refused to tell her ex-boyfriend why she was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. She says he then contacted another woman he was romantically involved with who worked at the hospital. The lawsuit says the worker accessed the woman’s medical record and gave it to her ex. It was then posted to a Facebook page about allegedly promiscuous women.

An attorney for the woman says there is no possible defense for the employee’s actions. According to The Columbus Dispatch:

“It couldn’t be more egregious in my estimation, and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center owes a duty to their patients to ensure this doesn’t happen,” said Mike Allen, the Cincinnati attorney who’s representing the woman who filed the lawsuit. “They can’t hide behind a shield of, ‘This employee was acting outside of the scope of their responsibilities.’ If that’s going to be their defense at trial, I’m looking forward to the trial.”

The hospital said they fired the employee and informed federal authorities about the case.

Hospital spokeswoman Diana Lara said today that Rawls, who worked in the billing department, was fired within days of the hospital learning of the Facebook post last year and that the case was forwarded to federal authorities because Rawls was found to have violated federal privacy laws regarding medical information. There is no record of any federal or local criminal charges pending against her. […]

The lawsuit names the hospital, Rawls and Bradley.It seeks a minimum of $25,000, saying that since the Facebook post, the woman has lost friends, been harassed about her medical condition and has suffered extreme emotional distress.