A Massachusetts hospital employee has filed suit in Berkshire Superior Court against a physician, alleging that he unethically reviewed her medical records at the hospital because he was romantically interested in her.

The employee’s suit names Dr. Boris Alberto Murillo and Berkshire Health Systems, owner of Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA and Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, MA and seeks $250,000 damages for infliction of emotional distress and suffering according to published report.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of the hospital for failing to protect the privacy of patients' records according to state laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, and not properly training Murillo in this regard. The complainant works at the hospital as a a medical secretary and had been treated at the facility.

The employee alleged that the physicians had tried to date her and had and made sexual advances toward her. According to local news reports, the claimant was alerted by another employee who had experienced similar issues with the physician, and sought disclosure of who had viewed her medical records under HIPAA provisions that require healthcare organizations to track access to private information. The access records reportedly revealed that the doctor had been reviewing her records, including her obstetric and gynecological history, through BHS's computer system at the hospital between September 2003 and May 2005, according to the suit.

While the federal HIPAA law does not provide for civil lawsuits, various state privacy laws and the common law requirements for patient confidentiality provide potential legal grounds for suits.