Byrnes v. Johnson County Community College, 2011 WL 166715 (D. Kan., January 19, 2011)
Plaintiff nursing student and some of her classmates attended a clinical OB/GYN course at the local hospital in Olathe, Kansas last November. They got permission from their instructor to photograph themselves with a placenta. Plaintiff posted the photo on Facebook. She got expelled from school. Yes, I know you want to see the photo. Here it is.
So she sued the college for violation of her due process rights and sought an injunction ordering that she be reinstated. The court granted the motion.
The court found that the appeal process that the college provided to plaintiff was in no way a fair and unbiased opportunity for her to fully present her case before a neutral and unbiased arbitrator.
The instructor had granted permission for plaintiff to take the picture — and may have consented to its publication on Facebook — but plaintiff did not get an adequate chance to make that argument. The court observed that “photos are taken to be viewed,” and that “by giving the students permission to take the photos, which [the instructor] admitted, it was reasonable to anticipate that the photos would be shown to others.”
Also relevant in the analysis was the absence of any apparent privacy right implicated by showing the placenta. Nothing in the photo showed any patient identification, nor were any of the nursing students able to testify that they knew the patient’s identity. The court found it irrelevant that the placenta appeared to be “fresh,” rejecting the defendants’ implications that that would somehow indicate who the patient was.
Because plaintiff had shown a likelihood of success on her due process argument, and had met the other requirements for the injunction (such as a showing of irreparable harm if not reinstated), the court granted the order that plaintiff be permitted to take last semester’s final exams and permitted to go back to class.
January 22, 2011
Without reading the case yet, I take it the case is more about whether the school's process is appropriate rather than containing a discussion of what kind of regulations, policies, or rules the school could have about student use of social media? Also, is the privacy right issue related directly to HIPAA issues or something else? I am curious about your take on what the school's basis for expelling the student was, and whether the school could create an enforceable policy basis for such expulsions.
February 24, 2011
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