Maryland’s governor recently signed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 (MODPA), making Maryland one of six states—along with Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—to pass a comprehensive privacy law this year. Overall, 19 states (and counting) now have such laws on their books.
Maryland’s law takes effect October 1
As reported on our Benefits Law Advisor, the EEOC has issued proposed wellness program regulations. Much of the attention to those proposed rules understandably will be how they would affect the incentives employers have implemented to spur their employees to engage in healthier behaviors. The proposed rules also address, however, the confidentiality provisions under
A Florida appellate court has ruled that a teenaged daughter’s post on Facebook mentioning her father’s confidential settlement of an age discrimination claim breached a confidentiality provision in the settlement agreement, barring the father from collecting an $80,000 settlement. Gulliver Schools, Inc. v. Snay, No. 3D13-1952 (Fla 3d DCA Feb. 26, 2014).
The plaintiff,
The Fourth Circuit recently held that the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act’s (“CFAA”) prohibitions against unauthorized access or access in excess of authorization were not violated by an employee when the employee used his valid access to employer’s computer network to download confidential business information that he later used while working for a competitor.
Prior
A Missouri federal district court has ruled, in I.S. v. Washington University, that a HIPAA-covered entity’s disclosure of protected information can form the basis for a state-law negligence claim. The Court reached this holding despite the well-accepted principle there is no private cause of action under HIPAA.
The plaintiff, I.S., was undergoing medical treatment
Companies frequently receive requests for information about current and former employees. These requests often come in the form of an attorney’s demand letter or a subpoena and apply to the individual’s medical records. Failing to carefully think through whether and how to respond can be a costly trap for the unwary.
Continue Reading ADA Violated When Employer Responds to State Subpoena and Discloses Former Employee’s Medical Records
In a uniquely timed second showing of enforcement authority, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on February 24, 2011 a one million dollar settlement with a Massachusetts hospital that allegedly breached patient data. This settlement announcement comes only days after HHS announced a 4.3 million dollar HIPAA Privacy Rule fine. The
Confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses are customary in settlement agreements and severance contracts in the employment law context. These days, however, the temptation can be irresistible for disgruntled former employees to trash their former employer on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, on blogs, by text or e-mail or other electronic means.