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Waddell v. Bhat

A doctor's disclosure of a dental hygienist's positive HIV status to his employer was reasonably necessary under O.C.G.A. § 24-9-47i for the protection of the employer's personnel and patients.

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In this case involving an action for wrongful disclosure of confidential HIV information, plaintiff below Spencer Waddell, a dental hygienist, appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant, Dr. Subrahmanya Bhat. Waddell contends that the trial court erred in summarily ruling that Dr. Bhat’s disclosure of Waddell’s HIV status to the dentist who both employed Waddell and provided dental care to him, was not actionable.

Waddell had filed a separate civil action under the Americans with Disabilities Act ADA and the Rehabilitation Act against his employer, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, after the employer had refused to allow him to continue treating patients due to his HIV-positive status. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendant, and the ruling was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. See Waddell v. Valley Forge Dental Assoc.,1 wherein the court held that the hygienist’s HIV-positive status posed a significant risk to the health of patients that could not be eliminated by reasonable accommodation, and thus plaintiff was not a qualified individual within the meaning of ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in the present case.

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