Pharmacy Permitted Man to View Video of Wife Purchasing Pregnancy Test

An Irish woman has settled a damages claim of approximately $47,000 against a pharmacy she said showed her husband closed-circuit TV footage of her purchasing a pregnancy test kit, according to The Irish Times.

The unnamed woman said the video created tension between her and her husband, with whom she was not having intimate relations at that time. The woman told the court that her relationship with her husband had been deteriorating for some time.

During the 2010 incident, the woman was allegedly in the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test for a friend. Later, her husband found the receipt, went to the pharmacy, and convinced an employee that he was concerned his teenage daughter had purchased the pregnancy test, The Irish Times reported.

While viewing the footage, the man surreptitiously took a photo with his phone. He then sent the photo to his wife, and the woman told the court that she was scared to go home because she thought her husband would start a fight with her. She also told the court that her husband became abusive on a daily basis following this event, the article stated.

The woman sued the pharmacy under the Data Protection Act for negligence and breach of duty in showing her husband the video.

The pharmacy claimed that the photos were taken without the pharmacy’s consent. In addition, the pharmacy argued that personal information can be shared with a third party if it is an urgent matter to protect someone’s health, and the man’s behavior suggested this was such a situation, The Irish Times reported.

After adjournment, the woman’s lawyer, Martina O’Neill, said the matter was resolved, and the judge struck out the case.