ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Legal Newsline) – A man who was assaulted and tortured will get a second chance to sue a hospital over his medical information being released to one of his assailants.
The Alaska Supreme Court on Jan. 14 ruled for Courtney Guy in his lawsuit against Providence Alaska Medical Center, overturning a verdict for the hospital because of incorrect jury instructions given by the trial judge.
The jury was told to rule for the hospital if it decided the employee who released Guy’s information did so outside the scope of employment.
“A party that breaches its contractual obligations is liable for breach regardless of whether the breach is caused by an employee acting outside the scope of employment, unless the terms of the contract excuse liability for that reason,” Justice Darlo Borghesan wrote.
The decision sends the case back to determine if a contract existed between Guy and the hospital and to interpret it.
The decision says Guy was assaulted and tortured by a group of men in March 2013 in Anchorage. One of the assailants, Stuart Seugasala, texted PAMC employee Stacy Laulu, who accessed Guy’s medical records and texted them back.
Federal agents found the texts while investigating the Seugasala, resulting in the firing of Laulu. She was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act.
Seugasala had asked Laulu to find out what Guy told staff about how it he suffered his injuries and if he was cooperating with police. Seugasala is serving life in prison for drug conspiracy, kidnapping and weapons charges.
PAMC fought Guy’s lawsuit by arguing Laulu released the information on her own and without PAMC’s approval.
“This case does not concern whether someone was acting as another’s agent when entering into a contract… nor whether Providence is vicariously liable for torts committed by Laulu,” Justice Borghesan wrote.
“Rather, the key issues are whether a contract between Guy and Providence existed and, if so, what terms, if any, such contract contained governing protection of patient health information.”