CHARLESTON — A West Virginia man is suing Charleston Area Medical Center alleging his personal medical information was accessed by an employee and shared with people throughout the community.
E.C.I. claims he entrusted his medical information with the defendant and it was accessed by an employee and discussed with an outside third party, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
CAMC failed to implement and follow basic security procedures, failed to supervise employees and failed to safeguard against wrongful activity by its employees and others, according to the suit.
Giatras
E.C.I. claims on March 4, he discovered from an unrelated third party that an employee of CAMC, Valerie James, had accessed his sensitive information.
He claims the unrelated third party had received knowledge of E.C.I.'s sensitive information as well as several other individuals who had entrusted their information to the hospital.
"The release of Plaintiff's sensitive information has resulted in financial harm due to the loss of employment opportunities," the complaint states.
E.C.I. claims James had been improperly accessing patient information for approximately nine months before it was discovered and it was apparent that CAMC had failed to monitor its employee's conduct and to monitor any systems it has in place to safeguard E.C.I.'s personal sensitive information entrusted to the defendant for protection.
The defendant's actions were negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of confidentiality and violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act as the plaintiff is a patient and customer of the defendant, according to the suit.
E.C.I claims the defendant did not adequately protect his sensitive information and did not provide the proper and adequate security measures for sensitive information.
E.C.I is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Troy N. Giatras, Matthew Stonestreet, Phillip A. Childs and Levi B. Pellegrin of The Giatras Law Firm in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-390
