DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

Nurse Fired for Snooping in Tiger Woods' Records Files Defamation Suit

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Dissent

David Rothenberg was the charge nurse on duty at Health Central Hospital in Ocoee on Nov. 27, 2009, as paramedics wheeled in Tiger Woods. The golfer had just crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree and fire hydrant outside his Isleworth home.

According to Rothenberg, within hours of Woods’s arrival, someone inside the hospital improperly gained access to the patient’s confidential medical records using the nurse’s computer login and password.

“They said it had something to do with Tiger Woods’ lab results and my name was on there,” said Rothenberg. “I’ll be honest with you, I was scared. And I said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.'”

In a defamation lawsuit filed this week against Health Central, the nurse claims he signed on to the hospital computer system and then walked away to tend to some other business.

“I minimized my screen, a common practice at the hospital,” said Rothenberg.

Rothenberg claims someone else must have approached his terminal, and within 10 minutes typed in “Tiger Woods,” as well as “Ronald Williams” and “Ernest Smith,” which the nurse has been told are aliases for the golfer.

Read more on ClickOrlando.com (via @LawandLit)

This case is worth noting for several reasons:

1. The hospital detected – but did not prevent – unauthorized access to patient records.
2. An employee was disciplined for snooping in patient records.
3. The employee may not have snooped (if his story is true), but by taking shortcuts such as minimizing the window instead of logging out, may have contributed to his own grief.
4. There is no indication as to whether the hospital’s security controls automatically time users out after a certain amount of inactivity. If the nurse’s report is accurate, the system also does not automatically log people out when a window is minimized.

Related posts:

  • Small-Scale Violations of Medical Privacy Often Cause the Most Harm
Category: Health Data

Post navigation

← Vermont Attorney General Settles Security Breach Allegations Against Health Net
Vermont Attorney General Settles Security Breach Allegations Against Health Net →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $14.6 Billion in Alleged Fraud
  • Swiss Health Foundation Radix Hit by Cyberattack Affecting Federal Data
  • Russian hackers get 7 and 5 years in prison for large-scale cyber attacks with ransomware, over 60 million euros in bitcoins seized
  • Bolton Walk-In Clinic patient data leak locked down (finally!)
  • 50 Customers of French Bank Hit by Insider SIM Swap Scam
  • Ontario health agency atHome ordered to inform 200,000 patients of March data breach
  • Fact-Checking Claims By Cybernews: The 16 Billion Record Data Breach That Wasn’t
  • Horizon Healthcare RCM discloses ransomware attack in December
  • Disgruntled IT Worker Jailed for Cyber Attack, Huddersfield
  • Hacker helped kill FBI sources, witnesses in El Chapo case, according to watchdog report

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • The Trump administration is building a national citizenship data system
  • Supreme Court Decision on Age Verification Tramples Free Speech and Undermines Privacy
  • New Jersey Issues Draft Privacy Regulations: The New
  • Hacker helped kill FBI sources, witnesses in El Chapo case, according to watchdog report
  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.