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Question: Where videotapes of clients are submitted as work
samples by intern applicants, is there possible exposure to legal
liability?
Yes. Disclosure of private information about a client without
consent may constitute invasions of privacy. It also may violate
state licensing laws or professional ethics codes. Clients may
seek damages for embarrassment; threat to employment; impairment
of health by insomnia or nightmares; or child custody challenges.
For example, clients have sued health care providers where without
consent photographs of them were shown at meetings, or recognizable
accounts of their treatment were published. Vassiliades v. Garfinckels,
492 A 2d. 580 (D.C. App. 1985); Roe v. Doe, 400 N.Y.S. 2d. 668
(N.Y.Supr.Ct.1977).
Question: If clients give their consent, will that prevent liability
for invasion of privacy?
Theoretically, yes. However, the courts examine very closely
a defense based on consent. Is the client competent to give consent?
How carefully has the client been informed? Is there evidence
that the client was told what specific information was to be disclosed,
to what specific persons it is to be provided, what is the specific
purpose for which it is to be provided, and what is the specific
expiration date of the consent, which should not exceed one year
from signing.
Question: Who may be liable for damages in such lawsuits?
It could well be that the legal liability would exist for a student
applicant, an applicant's faculty-supervisor, an applicants academic
department chair and an internship site that did not provide adequate
security for a videotape after receiving it.
Recommendation: Avoid the risk of exposure to legal liability
for damages resulting from an invasion of privacy. Find a substitute,
such as a simulation, for real life videotaped work samples
From: Internships and the Law: Questions and Answers
- APPIC Newsletter, Summer, 1991 - by Patricia A. Hollander, Esq.
NOTE: READERS ARE CAUTIONED THAT THE INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED ONLY TO CALL ATTENTION TO NEW LEGAL
DEVELOPMENTS AND IS NOT MEANT TO BE DEFINITIVE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
OR RELIED ON WITHOUT PRIOR CONSULTATION WITH LEGAL COUNSEL.
Copyright © 1998 Patricia A. Hollander
Published on APPIC's Web site (www.appic.org)
with author's permission
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6 March 2002
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