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88 N.C. L. Rev. 334 (2009-2010)
Damages under the Privacy Act: Is Emotional Harm Actual

handle is hein.journals/nclr88 and id is 336 raw text is: Damages Under the Privacy Act: Is Emotional Harm Actual? INTRODUCTION The Social Security Administration (SSA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) illegally exchanged pilot Stanmore Cooper's confidential medical records, disclosing his HIV positive status to one another.' As the investigation into Cooper's fitness as a pilot became public knowledge, the press publicized Cooper's stigmatizing illness.2 A United States District Court in the Northern District of California found that this information sharing between agencies was illegal, violating the federal Privacy Act of 1974.1 Despite this finding, the court held that Cooper was not entitled to any damages for his emotional suffering-which included anxiety, humiliation, fear of social ostracism, and severe emotional distress-caused by the government's invasion of his privacy.4 The court in Cooper v. Federal Aviation Administration' justified this paradox by reasoning that the Privacy Act compensates victims for actual damages and that the phrase actual damages is strictly limited to pecuniary harm, excluding nonpecuniary harm like the kind Cooper suffered.6 As a result of the court's reasoning, a question * © 2009 Nicole M. Quallen. 1. Cooper v. Fed. Aviation Admin., No. C 07-1383, slip op. at 12 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2008). 2. Id. at 21. 3. Id. at 19. The government agencies violated the following provision of the Privacy Act: No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any other person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains, unless disclosure of the record would be ... (3) for a routine use as defined in subsection (a)(7) of this section and described under subsection (e)(4)(D) of this section .... 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b) (2006). The court determined that the use of Cooper's records was not routine. Cooper, No. C 07-1383, slip op. at 19. 4. Cooper, No. C 07-1383, slip op. at 19, 25. The emotional distress Cooper suffered is discussed in his complaint. See Complaint at 8, Cooper, No. C 07-1383. 5. No. C 07-1383 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 22,2008). 6. Id. at 22-23.

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