CHICAGO — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against paramedics who photographed a patient who had just lost his arm in a fireworks accident and then posted them to Snapchat. The man claimed this violated his constitutional rights.
Omero Ortiz sued the town of Cicero, Metro Paramedic Services and two paramedics, Anthony Renteria and Christopher Calhoun, in connection with the events of July 4, 2020, involving an explosion that led to the amputation of Ortiz’s left arm. According to his complaint, Renteria and Calhoun posted pictures of Ortiz’s injuries with the caption “feeling blessed” and several emojis.
In his complaint, Ortiz alleged the incident violated his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights as well as state law. U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman issued an opinion Nov. 2 granting Cicero’s motion to dismiss the claims.
Arguing against dismissal, Ortiz said his due process claim centered only on an alleged violation of the right to medical privacy. Feinerman said the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held due process protects such a right, and the town didn’t say there was any public interest in placing the photos on Snapchat. As a result, the judge continued, the issue turns on whether the images disclosed Ortiz’s private medical information.
“The fact that Ortiz was harmed in a ‘horrific accident’ is not private medical information because it is not medical,” Feinerman wrote. “Rather, it concerned a traumatic event — akin to a traffic accident, or a shooting — and the consequences of that event — akin to a broken arm caused by a traffic accident, or a bullet wound caused by a shooting.
More importantly, Feinerman wrote, the fact Ortiz lost an arm can’t be considered “private medical information because it is not private.”
He said the Seventh Circuit’s opinions on the matter rely on a reasonable expectation of confidentiality, or “intimate and personal” information like whether someone has a certain medical condition, such as HIV, whereas information that is “readily observable or ascertainable,” like height and weight, aren’t private.
“That Ortiz lost his left arm may be medical information, but it is not private medical information, as it is a readily observable condition,” Feinerman wrote. “Ortiz does not allege that he considers his lost arm itself — as opposed to the fact that he lost his arm in a fireworks accident — to be private, nor does he allege that he could keep private the fact of his lost arm or even that he has any desire to do so.”
Feinerman said although his opinion considered only Cicero’s motion to dismiss, the other parties filed their own motion. Though briefing was not complete on the motion from Metro, Renteria and Calhoun, the grounds for dismissal of the due process claims “apply with equal force to all defendants, so those claims are dismissed in their entirety.”
Feinerman said Ortiz was right to argue the federal court had supplemental jurisdiction over his Illinois law claims, but he opted to relinquish that jurisdiction. He said Ortiz still has a year to refile those claims in a state court if so desired while also noting “substantial federal judicial resources have not yet been committed to the state law claims” and it isn’t clear how those claims would be decided.
The dismissal of the due process claims and jurisdiction came without prejudice, Feinerman explained, meaning Ortiz can choose to amend and replead those claims in federal court. He has until Nov. 16 to pursue that option, after which the dismissal will convert to one with prejudice.
Ortiz has been represented in the action by attorney Dean J. Caras, of the Caras Law Group, of Chicago.
Cicero has been represented by attorney K. Austin Zimmer, and others with the Del Galdo Law Group, of Berwyn.
The paramedics have been represented by attorney Andrew Y. Acker, and othes with the firm of Storino, Ramello & Durkin, of Rosemont.