[BreachExchange] HIV-plaintiff seeks anonymity in Aspen Valley Hospital lawsuit

[Audrey McNeil]

http://www.aspentimes.com/news/crime/22914628-113/hiv-plaintiff-seeks-anonymity-in-aspen-valley-hospital-lawsuit

A man suing Aspen Valley Hospital for allegedly leaking his HIV-positive
status has petitioned the court to keep his identity concealed to prevent
what he says would bring him further humiliation.

Plaintiff “John Doe” filed a motion Monday in the U.S. District Court of
Denver to allow him to continue use of the pseudonym.

“While legal proceedings are — and should be — presumptively public, this
case presents one of the few exceptional circumstances under which the law
allows a party to proceed anonymously,” says the motion.

The hospital, in a statement issued Tuesday, said for the time being it
won’t challenge Doe’s motion seeking continued anonymity.

“As alleged in the Amended Complaint, Mr. Doe was purportedly a patient and
former employee of AVH, and as such is entitled to certain protections,”
the statement said. “Therefore, Mr. Doe is choosing to proceed under a
pseudonym. AVH and its current and former employees who were named in the
lawsuit have valid defenses to Mr. Doe’s claims, and we will have the
opportunity to present those defenses at the appropriate time. Until we are
able to do so, we will not contest Mr. Doe’s motion to keep his name
confidential.”

Doe, a former hospital employee, sued the nonprofit, tax-supported
organization in June on allegations that it violated
patient-confidentiality laws and retaliated against him with a campaign of
harassment and ultimately termination.

The suit accuses the hospital’s human resources manager, Alicia Miller, of
outing him as HIV-positive over dinner with a colleague in Denver on Sept.
23, 2012. Miller found out about his HIV status when she was analyzing the
health-insurance records of staff employees as a way to reduce costs for
the self-insured hospital, the suit contends.

Doe, hired by the hospital in 2003, was promoted to an information
technology technician position in 2013. But it wasn’t until 2014 that he
learned that his colleagues knew about his condition.

His suit accuses the hospital of firing him in January 2015 after he
complained to the hospital and the Office for Civil Rights and the
Department of Labor. Prior to his complaints, he had received stellar
reviews for his job performance, the suit says.

ANONYMOUS FILINGS ARE RARE

Doe’s motion, filed by Denver attorney Mari Newman, acknowledges that
courts aren’t prone to granting plaintiffs anonymity. But it also cites
cases in which HIV-positive plaintiffs have been allowed to conceal their
identities.

The motion references Doe. v. City of New York. In that case, the
plaintiff, who was HIV-positive, sued the city for releasing information
pertaining to his identity. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that
an “individual revealing that she is HIV seropositive potentially exposes
herself not to understanding or compassion but to discrimination and
intolerance, further necessitating the extension of the right to
confidentiality over such information.”

Doe’s motion adds that he “was acutely aware of the continuing stigma” ...
“faced by those with HIV, so much so that aside from informing his sexual
partners, Plaintiff did not reveal his diagnosis even to close family
members or friends, and he took multiple steps to keep his private health
information securely confidential in connection with his medical treatment
at Defendant Aspen Valley Hospital.”

The court’s denial of Doe’s request for anonymity also would deter other
HIV-positive individuals from litigating over similar claims, the motion
says.

“Proceeding under his real name would multiply this injury a million-fold
as doing so effectively would publicly broadcast his HIV positive status to
the world,” the motion says.

The hospital and the individual defendants — Miller, the human resources
manager; IT Director Michelle Gelroth, in-house counsel Elaine Gerson, Dawn
Gilkerson, the hospital’s HR specialist; and the hospital’s chief
compliance officer, Stephen Knowles — have retained Denver-area attorney
Leslie Miller. The defendants have until Sept. 6 to formally answer the
complaint, according to court documents.

At the time of the suit’s filing, the hospital’s interim CEO, Terry
Collins, said “the hospital will vigorously defend its actions at the
appropriate time.”
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