Courtroom Success 2014-29: Boston Partners Tony Abeln and Brent Tingle

Courtroom Success 2014-29:  Boston Partners Tony Abeln and Brent Tingle obtained summary judgment for their client in a relatively novel area of law. Plaintiff alleged that our client, the defendant physician, invaded the privacy of a patient in the performance of an observed urine screening for marijuana use (which later turned out to be negative for drugs). The co-defendant employer had instructed the physician to perform an observed drug screening, and the plaintiff argued that the physician had less intrusive means at his disposal that he could have employed in order to achieve the same ends. In a case of first impression in the Commonwealth, the court determined that the manner of testing and its performance by a physician at the behest of an employer was reasonable as a matter of law and that Plaintiff could not meet his burden under the Massachusetts Privacy Statute.