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Court upholds firing of FDNY lieutenant who posted 911 caller info on Facebook

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Dissent

Evan Brown writes:

Palleschi v. Cassano, — N.Y.S.2d —, 2013 WL 322573 (N.Y.A.D. 1 Dept. January 29, 2013)

Petitioner — an emergency medical services supervisor and lieutenant in the New York Fire Department — admitted that he posted a picture to Facebook of a computer screen containing confidential and privileged information about a 911 caller’s complaint of a gynecological emergency. The pic also showed the caller’s name, address and telephone number.

He added the caption, “[c]an’t make this up,” apparently for his 460 friends’ enjoyment.

Petitioner sought review of the Commissioner’s decision to fire him. The court affirmed the decision. If found that in light of the serious nature of the conduct, the penalty did not shock any sense of fairness.

It’s hard to believe that the petitioner even sought review. This was clearly a blatant breach of privacy and as an EMS supervisor, he really should have known better. This type of conduct can undermine the public’s trust in the EMS system and make them reluctant to report anything for fear it might show up on a Facebook page.

This is not the first time FDNY personnel have been involved in improperly disclosing confidential medical information. In August 2012, a former firefighter turned lawyer, Peter Gleason, sued FDNY and others over release of his confidential medical information to the media, alleging they were trying to hurt his candidacy for city council.

Fire department EMS units are often the first line of response on ambulance calls. Not all fire departments are HIPAA-covered entities, but I wish they all conducted themselves as if they were.

Category: Health Data

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