CHARLESTON — A Kanawha County woman has sued CAMC alleging a hospital employee improperly accessed her medical records twice in 2024 and shared protected health information with her former partner, leading to harassment and emotional harm.
The complaint was filed August 13 in Kanawha Circuit Court by a plaintiff identified only as E.O., and Charleston Area Medical Center is the only defendant.
According to the complaint, E.O. received lab work at CAMC on Jan. 8, 2024, related to a viral illness. A CAMC employee listed in an audit trail as a “Perioperative – Scheduler” allegedly accessed E.O.’s electronic medical record without an authorized business reason on January 23, 2024.
The audit trail showed the employee searched E.O.’s record, viewed detailed information and reviewed patient or encounter-level demographic information, the complaint states.
E.O. had additional CAMC lab work on February 13, 2024, that showed an infection, according to the filing. The same employee allegedly accessed her electronic medical record again June 17, 2024.
Afterward, E.O. began receiving harassing Snapchat messages from a former partner whom she believes was in a relationship with the CAMC employee, the complaint says.
CAMC notified E.O. in an August 19, 2024, letter that a workforce member had accessed her records without a business need on January 23 and June 17, according to the suit. The hospital said it took “appropriate action” involving the employee, but E.O. alleges she believes the employee remains employed at the hospital.
E.O. says she has suffered targeted harassment, emotional trauma, anxiety and depression as a result.
She accuses CAMC of negligence, vicarious liability, invasion of privacy and strict liability. It cites the West Virginia Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Tabata v. CAMC, which recognized a privacy-based claim involving unauthorized access to confidential medical information.
E.O. says CAMC had duties to safeguard confidential patient information, prevent improper employee access and promptly notify patients when protected health information was accessed inappropriately.
The case is similar to another filed against CAMC last month.
She seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and pre- and post-judgment interests. She is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano and David H. Carriger of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Jude Maryclaire Akers.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 26-C-983
