Brice Brown and Yasmine Yellow are involved in a romantic relationship. Brice is an employee of the Mayor’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia. Yasmine is a lawyer at a major law firm in Atlanta that does work for the Mayor’s Office. In an effort to keep their relationship secret, Brice and Yasmine meet in public only for lunch. On their first-year anniversary as a couple, Brice and Yasmine split a bottle of champagne during lunch. Upon returning to work, both Brice and Yasmine smell of alcohol. Each employer decides to administer a breathalyzer to estimate blood alcohol level. Is it likely that these employees have constitutional protections against their employers?

Christelle répond:

Emergency Services, an ambulance company, hopes to hire several new emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Most EMTs hired by Emergency Services are 30 years old or younger. Emergency Services, however, would be pleased to hire EMTs of any age. What strategy is suggested by the Director of Human Resources to help avoid a lawsuit based on discrimination?

Red & Black, a national cable company, provides both cable Internet service and cable TV service to its customers. Red & Black receives a court order related to a criminal investigation asking for any accounts opened and any Internet provider addresses used by Owen Owens, a customer of the company. The order instructs Red & Black not to notify Owen about the existence of the order. Kelly O’Malley, the CEO of the company, wants to comply with the pertinent legal requirements. After Kelly consults with her lawyer, is it likely that Kelly decides to comply with the order?

South Carolina’s proposed state comprehensive privacy law lacks a private right of action that would allow individuals to sue for violations of their consumer rights under the law. Which of the state comprehensive privacy laws studied in this class adopt a similar approach on this topic?

Knowledge Plus, a university that opened in 2020, wants to make sure that people at the university have ready access to healthcare. Knowledge Plus has plans to open a healthcare clinic that can be used by both students and faculty. The President of Knowledge Plus asks you, as the privacy officer, what privacy requirements the healthcare clinic likely should follow:

Doctor John Jones specializes in surgeries that are not medically necessary such as face lifts. Since most of the procedures Doctor Jones performs would not be covered under health insurance, he only accepts credit cards for payment and does not bill insurance. Isra Ibrahim, a potential patient, looks online for a doctor to perform a facelift and finds Doctor Jones’s website. When Isra visits Doctor Jones’s office, Isra does not receive a privacy notice with her initial paperwork. Isra asks Doctor Jones for a copy of the privacy notice and is told that the office does not maintain a privacy notice. Is it likely that Doctor Jones has violated HIPAA?

Five years after Linh Lee retired from working for a major tobacco producer, Linh was diagnosed with lung cancer. Linh hires an attorney to determine if she has a viable legal claim against her former employer. Linh’s attorney sends a number of requests to the company for records maintained about Linh as well as for practices in place at the time that Linh was an employee of the company. What are the reasons that the company likely maintained these records?

Damir Datsyuk was diagnosed with cancer after taking Tummy Relief, a heartburn medication. Prior to the cancer diagnosis, Damir tested positive for Hepatitis C. Damir hired an attorney to sue the manufacturer of Tummy Relief. Because Damir did not want the Hepatitis C diagnosis to be discussed in public, his attorney obtained a qualified protective order from the court.  How does the qualified protective order affect the protected health information in the lawsuit?

Luke Lucky, an experienced poker player, signs up to play in a national poker tournament at Big Dog Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. After arriving at the casino, Luke decides to participate in 3 smaller tournaments in addition to the national poker tournament.  To cover the entry fees, Luke pays the casino $20,000 in cash. Does this cash payment trigger a reporting requirement?