Judge Disagrees With Employee Firing Over HIPAA Violation

Elizabeth Snell reports:

A Montana judge recently ruled that a healthcare employee’s HIPAA violation did not preclude her from protection under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The employee had accessed personal information on coworkers for her union-organizing campaign, according to the judge’s decision. Her employer then terminated her, citing a HIPAA violation. However, the judge explained in the ruling that while “concerns about HIPAA compliance are unquestionably legitimate, the circumstances here lead me to conclude they were seized upon to stop [the employee’s] union activity.”