Court Rules FTC Attorneys Immune From Suit Over LabMD Data Security Case
Two FTC attorneys are immune from a lawsuit filed by a medical records company alleging the duo retaliated after the company criticized the agency over a data security investigation (see 1603080005), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit…
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ruled Friday. Michael Daugherty, owner of LabMD, claimed Ruth Yodaiken and Alain Sheer retaliated after his public criticism of their investigation into the company’s data-security practices making patient records available over public file-sharing. The response violated First Amendment rights, Daugherty claimed. “Qualified immunity protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law,” the D.C. Circuit said. “Even if the FTC attorneys sought to retaliate for the public criticism, their actions do not violate any clearly established right absent plausible allegations that their motive was the but-for cause of the Commission’s enforcement action.”