Social media websites like Facebook have had a profound effect on society, so it isn’t surprising that the site is now being drawn into court by a variety of litigants, including some involved in personal injury lawsuits. The conflicting results, however, are surprising.
Romano v Steelcase Inc.
Kathleen Romano sued Steelcase Inc., claiming she’d fallen from her office chair and sustained injuries that caused “pain and progressive deterioration with consequential loss of enjoyment of life.”
Steelcase wanted info from Romano’s Facebook and MySpace pages that would contradict her claim. Facebook refused to allow access without a signed consent from Romano and Romano said no way.
Steelcase argued in court that there was evidence on the pages that proved Romano was living an active lifestyle and disproved her claim that she was basically confined to her home.
In this case, the court found in favor of Steelcase Inc., stating that what was found in the public portion of her profile provided reason to believe there was more evidence in the private portion.
McCann v Harleysville Insurance
After being involved in a collision, a motorist sought to collect “uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage” from her insurance carrier. Although there was nothing in the plaintiff’s public profile to raise suspicion, the defendant requested access to her private pages. Again, Facebook refused, the plaintiff refused, and the case went to court. This time, however, access was denied. The court called the defendant’s request a “fishing expedition” and ruled that they had failed to provide reason to believe there was relevant evidence there to discover.
The introduction of social media to personal injury cases adds one more twist to already complex legal situations. Your Boston personal injury attorney will advise you if social media becomes a factor in your case. If you don’t have an attorney already, contact a Boston personal injury lawyer at Alford and Bertrand, 1651 Blue Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02126, (617) 298-3111, for a free evaluation of your case.
