A professional athlete was involved in a car accident after…
A professional athlete was involved in a car accident after leaving his team’s stadium following a game, and a child was killed. The child’s parents brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the athlete, which eventually was settled. A reporter for a sports gossip website accurately reported that, as part of the legal settlement, the athlete was required to seek counseling for alcoholism. The website reporter incorrectly believed that she had received this information from a press release by the athlete’s agent, but in fact it had been supplied by an unauthorized source, and no public information was released of the terms of the settlement. The athlete brought a privacy action against the website reporter based on the public disclosure of private facts, but the jury rejected his claim. What is the likely explanation?