Can I sue Them?

Question

I go to a place that Mentors me and my children! I ended up having a fight with one of the mentors inside of my house!
not even 10 minutes after the fight! A person that is also getting help at this place for her children called and told me that the office workers were talking about me, and that I take meds and about my life story I had told them!!!! This person was not even any where near my house at the time, or could have know anything about what happen, That is how I knew she was not lieing.

I was mad as you know what!! cause no one knows about my past but now they do!!!
The Place is helping me out with depression, personility problems and things like that!!!
What could I do, or what should have I do? Better yet what would you have done!!!!
Still Upset about this!!

Answer 1

Hold the phone folks...first off, I commend you for trying to straighten your life out and put your kids in the right direction while they are young. Do not take any of the criticism from some other posters seriously. The first step to making a change in your life is getting help. Most people never get to that crucial step and suffer for the rest of their life. Dont give up...but I would suggest finding somewhere else.

Can you sue? This is all going to depend on what type of establishment this is. Would I sue? Probably not. It is going to be way more trouble that its worth.

If this is a medical establishment...mental health center, counseling center...anyplace where you had to reveal your medical history (ie: details about medication and treatment for any condition, mental health included.) they have to comply with the HIPPA regulations. Your personal information is just that...personal and private. Drs and nurses arent the onlyones bound to this...anyone who works in a facility of this type has to comply. Revealing any information about a patient, especially their health history,is a serious violation.

I would contact the administrator of the facility and report to them what happened. Ask to speak to the Privacy Officer. Find out what laws that particular facility has to comply with. Ask to see them in writing. They have to provide them to you. Federal law requires this.

If it were me...and the revelation of my private health history damaged my ability to seek gainful employment or caused emotional trauma to myself or my children,I would consult with an attorney that specializes in this type of case. They could tell you if you have a case. Dont expect monetary damages. They will most likely suffer some criminal penalties.

Dont give up....find someone else to mentor you and your family. Find out up front what information they require you to give and find out their protection policies.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Actually you can sue anybody for anything these days, but whether or not you have a legitimate suit depends on the circumstances of the conversation held by the office workers. Was it in the normal course of performing their jobs and "overheard" by an outsider without their knowledge? The timing seems to indicate that it was discussed when, or immediately after, the mentor reported the fight. Your personal business should not discussed when/where others could hear it but, unless someone deliberately breached the confidentiality code of the facility, or failed to use due diligence when discussing it, you might not have much of a case. You really should call a lawyer for a free consultation.

Answer 3

It sounds like they have violated your patient's right to privacy by sharing personal information and details that should have remained in confidence. They have no right to share this info with most of the people in the office. Whatever happened at your home (unless it was a scheduled professional meeting) is free to be shared, and some of the other employees of the organization are entitled to know about certain information, but if this person just went back to the office and started spreading your personal info, then that is a violation of your rights in a patient/professional situation (especially since other clients in the office heard what they were saying).

I would speak with the person's supervisor or the head of the organization. You may also report this to HIPAA. In the very least it is unprofessional behavior that needs to be corrected.

Answer 4

Hell yea! Releasing private information first of all like any counselor or mentoring facility they should all tell you that what you talk about there is private and you sign papers. second of all assault and battery, pain & sufferingand mayby a few others

Contact a lawyer and they will help you and probobly tell you of even more charges than ive gave you lol

If your really upset about this i would file charges against the facility or company not the person better odds of winning

Answer 5

I would take some time to reflect on the situation. Do you have a therapist? You might want to consider talking with him or her. I can understand you are upset, who wouldn't be? I just know often when I am upset, it is good to relax a little, vent a little (like you are doing here) then appraise the situation again. If he or she has a supervisor, you might want to call him or her and just explain to the supervisor how you feel. But be nice! You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Good luck to you!

Answer 6

the way they found out about your life is that you told someone.you should not have been whinnin and should have been concentrating on getting better.i have a hard time that a parent has to have a mentore along with the child. that sure is not a stable enviroment for the child

Answer 7

uhh Ignore it and just go on with your life. who cares what you did in the past, the past was back then and this is now! just time to be the mature one ... when thay start doing crap like that just shows how immature thay really are and thay dont know how to grow up.

Answer 8

report them to a supervisor or the head of their department and tell them that you will file a civil suit for deformation of charecter if nothing is done to these ppl . good luck to you

Answer 9

You can sue anyone...would you win? Probably not. Keep your past to yourself if you do not want it talked about...or see a medical professional...

Answer 10

i think you could, they violated the confidently code, by telling others your personal business.