http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/05/1368602/-University-of-Oregon-commits-frightening-abuse-of-power-in-rape-victim-case
When a University of Oregon rape survivor sued the school earlier this year for bungling her case, campus officials dug into the student's confidential therapy records in order to counter her claim. It's a total invasion of privacy that also appears to be legal, writes attorney and social justice advocate Katie Rose Guest Pryal.
The Oregon administration accessed the rape survivor’s therapy records from its counseling center and handed them over to its general counsel’s office to help them defend against her lawsuit. They were using her own post-rape therapy records against her.
It was a senior staff therapist in the counseling unit who blew the whistle on the administration’s actions. In her public letter, she sounds horrified that the work she thought was protected by medical privilege could be violated in such a fashion.
The university came firing back, arguing that because the rape survivor had asserted a legal claim of emotional distress, Oregon was entitled under, of all things, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to use her medical records to defend against her suit.
Pryal writes that she initially thought the university's legal justifications for its actions were ludicrous, but upon digging further, she concluded that they did have the legal authority to do what they did. "And that means everything has to change," she writes.
But legal considerations aside, this is truly frightening and someone—or multiple people—should be made to answer for it. It's worth noting that university officials also threatened the job of the therapist, who both sought outside counsel and eventually cried foul.
i understand a lot of institutes of higher learning are promoting lower ethics and morality, they charge exorbitant amounts to attend then don't guarantee your safety and if attacked they put you on trial for their failure, and create laws within the school that makes it hard to come forward let alone endure the kangaroo court type procedures. these polaces that think so little of their female students should lose any type of government assist they might get but as long as the republicans are in those parts of the gov't it won't happen. and i still believe they support rape.
if they are doing these things because they don't want a bad reputation someone needs to mention that can back fire and be seen as the willingness to deny this is the other side of that double edged blade, a rep for doing can be as detrimental as a rep for denying.
