CASE OF RADU v. THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for private life);Non-pecuniary damage - award
Alvina Gyulumyan;Ján Šikuta;Johannes Silvis;Josep Casadevall;Luis López Guerra
5. The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Chişinău. At the time of the events she was thirty-four years old and married. She was a lecturer at the Police Academy. 6. It appears from the case-file materials that at the time of the events the relationship between the applicant and her superiors at the Police Academy were tense and that there had been a set of employment-related civil proceedings between them. 7. On an unspecified date in 2003 the applicant underwent artificial insemination at a fertility clinic and became pregnant with twins. On 3 August 2003 she was seen by a doctor from the No. 7 Centre for Family Doctors (“the CFD)”, an institution belonging to the Ministry of Health, who ordered her hospitalisation on account of an increased risk of miscarriage. The applicant was hospitalised between 4 and 20 August 2003 and was later closely supervised by a doctor from the CFD. It would appear that the applicant’s absence from work during her hospitalisation was certified by a sick note referring to her pregnancy and an increased risk of miscarriage as the reasons for her absence. 8. On 5 November 2003 the President of the Police Academy requested information from the CFD in connection with the applicant’s medical leave in August 2003. In particular, he asked who had ordered her hospitalisation, when she had been hospitalised, what had been the initial and final diagnoses, and what treatment she had received. 9. In a letter dated 7 November 2003 the CFD informed the applicant’s employer that the applicant had been hospitalised between 4 and 20 August 2003 on account of an increased risk of miscarriage. The letter also stated that this was the applicant’s first pregnancy and that she was carrying twins; that the pregnancy had resulted from artificial insemination and that the applicant had hepatitis B. The letter further mentioned that the applicant had obstetrical complications and that she had a negative blood type. A copy of the applicant’s medical file from the hospital where she had been hospitalised, containing a detailed description of all the medical procedures she had undergone and of all the medical analyses, was annexed to the letter. 10. On an unspecified date the applicant suffered a miscarriage. According to the medical report, one of the factors which had led to the miscarriage was the stress to which she had been subjected. 11. In January 2004 the applicant initiated civil proceedings against the CFD and the Police Academy and claimed compensation for a breach of her right to private life. She argued, inter alia, that her employer had had sufficient information as to the reasons for her medical leave and had not been entitled to seek further details of such a private nature. Moreover, after the information had been obtained it had not been kept confidential but had been disclosed to everybody at the Police Academy. According to the applicant, the disclosure had caused her serious stress and anxiety. Everyone at her workplace, including her students, had learned details about her private life, and different rumours had begun to circulate. Only two days after the disclosure, she had suffered a miscarriage due to the stress to which she had been subjected. Her husband, who had also been an employee of the Police Academy, had had to resign from his post and accept a less well-paid job. 12. On 6 July 2004 the Centru District Court dismissed the applicant’s action on the grounds, inter alia, that the disclosure of information by the fertility clinic had been lawful in view of the ongoing investigation being conducted by the applicant’s employer. As to the contention that the employer had disclosed the information to other employees, the court found it to be ill-founded. The applicant appealed. 13. On 2 November 2006 the Chişinău Court of Appeal upheld the applicant’s appeal and quashed the above judgment. The court found the applicant’s action well-founded and ordered the CFD to pay her 20,000 Moldovan lei (MDL) (EUR 1,124) and the Police Academy to pay her MDL 15,000 (EUR 843). The Court of Appeal found that the CFD had disclosed to the applicant’s employer more information than had actually been requested. 14. On 10 May 2007 the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the appeal on points of law lodged by the CFD and dismissed the applicant’s claims against it. The Supreme Court held that the CFD had acted in accordance with the law when providing the applicant’s employer with medical information about her. The CFD had been under an obligation to provide the Police Academy with such information in the context of the latter’s legal relationship with its employee. According to the Supreme Court, at the time of the events there were relations of an employment-law and of a criminal-law nature between the Police Academy and the applicant. The Supreme Court considered that the provisions of the laws on reproductive health and on the rights and obligations of the patient were not pertinent to the case.