Tierney v. Advocate Health and Hosps. Corp. – Aug. 2015 (Summary)

PATIENT PRIVACY

Tierney v. Advocate Health and Hosps. Corp., No. 14-3168 (7th Cir. Aug. 10, 2015)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims alleging willful and negligent violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). This litigation arose when burglars stole four desktop computers from the health corporation’s administrative offices. The computers contained unencrypted private data relating to approximately four million patients. Six of the affected patients brought this putative class action alleging that the corporation did too little to safeguard their information. The circuit court affirmed the findings of the district court because a hospital did not qualify as a “consumer reporting agency” under the FCRA.