A federal judge has ruled that a teacher in Mount Olive, New Jersey, wrongfully used a special education student's confidential psychiatric profile as a teaching tool in a class on the famous novel Catcher in the Rye.
The teacher had asked a school social worker for a sample of a psychological evaluation to use in interpreting the novel's central character, Holden Caulfield. Shockingly - as Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise found - the social worker agreed to this improper request. The teacher then made such a poor attempt to redact the particular student's name that the disclosure must have been intentional.
Judge Debevoise therefore held that the teacher and social worker violated the student's right to privacy under federal law and the New Jersey Constitution. The judge entered summary judgment on the question of liability under those claims in favor of the student's parents.
Thomas S. Howard, of Kirsch Gartenberg Howard LLP in Hackensack, represented the parents. Mr. Howard is an accomplished New Jersey trial attorney committed to protecting individual rights and seeking proper compensation for injured clients. In addition to special education law, his practice includes many serious injury cases, including those involving medical malpractice.
Kirsch Gartenberg Howard LLP also serves clients by handling a full range of estate planning and probate matters, as well as business litigation.
For more information about Kirsch Gartenberg Howard, call toll-free 877-319-7488 or contact the firm online.
From our law offices in Hackensack and Manhattan, Kirsch Gartenberg Howard LLP has served individuals and businesses across northern New Jersey, including Bergen County, Essex County, Union County, Middlesex County and Passaic County, and the five boroughs of New York City since 1984.
