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Paul v. Providence Health System-Oregon

273 P.3d 106 (2012)

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Paul v. Providence Health System-Oregon

Oregon Supreme Court
273 P.3d 106 (2012)

Facts

Providence Health System-Oregon (Providence) (defendant) had stored personal information for approximately 365,000 patients (the patients) (plaintiffs) on computer disks and tapes. This information included the patients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and health details. The disks and tapes were stolen from a Providence employee’s car. Providence notified the affected patients of the theft and recommended that the patients protect themselves from possible identity theft. The patients filed a class action against Providence for negligence and violation of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA). No patient alleged that any identity theft had actually occurred. The patients’ alleged harms were (1) having to pay for credit monitoring and fraud alerts and (2) being exposed to the risk of future identity theft. The trial court dismissed the claims because the patients’ alleged injuries were about possible future harm rather than actual, current harm. The patients appealed. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal because the patients’ claims were purely economic and because Providence did not have a special relationship with the patients that would support a negligence claim for purely economic damages. The patients appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Balmer, J.)

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