"PRIVATE" INFORMATION ON SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES DEEMED DISCOVERABLE
In what has become an increasing trend, a plaintiff in a personal injurysuit has been ordered to produce otherwise "private" postings on her Facebook and MySpace social networking profiles. In Romano v. Steelcase, Inc., a New York Supreme Court case, the plaintiff alleged that she suffered serious and permanent injuries after falling off a defect desk chair manufactured by Steelcase. The plaintiff further claimed that, as a result of these injuries, she was almost entirely bed-ridden.
Steelcase sought the "private" information after discovering public portions of the plaintiff's Facebook and MySpace profiles that revealed the plaintiff had "an active lifestyle" contrary to her claims. Agreeing with Steelcase, the court held that it was reasonable to infer from the limited information on the plaintiff's public profile pages that "her private pages may contain mate
