Lake v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

582 N.W.2d 231 (1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Nineteen-year-old Elli Lake and 20-year-old Melissa Weber (Ps) vacationed in Mexico in March 1995 with Weber's sister. During the vacation, Weber's sister took a photograph of Lake and Weber naked in the shower together. Lake and Weber brought five rolls of film to D. When they received their developed photographs along with the negatives, an enclosed written notice stated that one or more of the photographs had not been printed because of their 'nature.' By July 1995, an acquaintance of Ps alluded to the photograph and questioned their sexual orientation. In December 1995, another friend told Ps that a Wal-Mart employee had shown her a copy of the photograph. By February 1996, Ps were informed that one or more copies of the photograph were circulating in the community. Ps filed a complaint against D and one or more as-yet-unidentified Wal-Mart employees alleging the four traditional invasion of privacy torts--intrusion upon seclusion, appropriation, publication of private facts, and false light publicity. D moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted in that the state did not recognize those causes of action. The court granted the motion. The court of appeals affirmed. Ps appealed.