Humphers v. First Interstate Bank Of Oregon,

696 P.2d 527 (1985)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P had a child in 1959 when she was unmarried. The only people who knew of this were her mother, Dr. Mackey, and her current husband. The child was given up for adoption. In 1980, the child wanted to meet her birth mother and unable to gain access to the confidential court files, she located Dr. Mackey who gave her a letter that P had taken DES during pregnancy and it was important that the child learn of her mother's medical history; that letter was false. Eventually, the child used the letter to identify her mother. P was not pleased, and she sought damages from the estate of Dr. Mackey, (D). P asked for relief from this outrageous conduct, breach of patient confidentiality, that his standard of care fell short of that in the community, an invasion of privacy and that this was a breach of contract. The circuit court dismissed all the complaints on D's motions. The appeals court reversed the dismissal on the breach of confidential relationship and the invasion of privacy.