HIPAA Privacy – Respondeat Superior

Korntved v. Advanced Healthcare, S.C., No. 2004AP1604 (Wis. App. July 19, 2005)

A lab technician for a multi-specialty clinic disclosed medical information about a patient and her mother. The tech was the current wife of the patient's father. The patient appealed a grant of summary judgment in which the trial court found that the employee had acted outside of her scope of employment and therefore the clinic could not be held liable for her actions. The Court of Appeals of Wisconsin stated the test for determining if an employee acted outside the scope of employment is whether the servant was motivated by an intent to serve her master. Nothing in the record suggested that the employee was attempting to serve or benefit the clinic by accessing and disclosing the records. Her actions could only be detrimental to the clinic as it had imposed strict confidentiality requirements regarding medical records access. For that reason, the court concluded that the employee was acting outside of the scope of her employment and the clinic could not be held liable for the employee's actions.