Alaska Employment Law

The plaintiff in Felthauser v. United States claims that the VA took four years to respond to his request for copies of his medical records, and then sent the records to somebody else.  When he sued for violations of the Privacy Act and HIPAA, the VA moved to dismiss. 

Judge John Sedwick denied the VA’s limitations defense (2 years) to the Privacy Act claim, finding a fact question on when the plaintiff learned of the implicit denial of the request. 

But Sedwick granted the VA’s (unopposed) motion to dismiss the HIPAA claim on the basis of sovereign immunity, finding no “unequivocal waiver” of such by the United States.

Sedwick also denied the plaintiff’s request to amend his Complaint, because he failed to attach a copy of the proposed amendment, as required by Local Rule 15.1.

100107 Order in Felthauser v. US

Felthauser v. United States, 2007 WL 2903019 (D.Alaska Oct. 1, 2007). 

Felthauser is pro se.   Richard Pomeroy of the U. S. Attorneys office in Anchorage represents the government.