A hospital patient who stuck pencils in her eyes in a suicide attempt , then found out that a photo of her self - mutilation turned up on the Internet three years later , has agreed to settle the part of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County and one of its nurses , her attorney said Wednesday . Douglas Johnson , who represents the 24 - year - old plaintiff , told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White that the proposed resolution would remove the county and nurse Shannon Lipham as defendants in the case . The case will proceed against nurse Kristin Ciasulli , who the plaintiff accuses of taking the photo at County - USC Medical Center , and Ciasulli 's then- employer , HRN Services Inc. , Johnson said . Johnson declined to state the amount of the settlement , but noted it would be public information if the Board of Supervisors approves it . He praised the county 's lawyers for working with him toward a resolution of the case , which was filed in October 2014 and identifies the plaintiff only as Jane Doe . " I absolutely think it was the right thing to do and I was impressed with the compassion they showed for my client , " Johnson said . During today 's hearing , the judge said Johnson needs to shore up only one of the four allegations against HRN Services intentional infliction of emotional distress . Johnson said the problem with the complaint can be easily fixed . The attorney also said he was pleased that the judge found the details behind the other three allegations negligent infliction of emotional distress , intrusion upon seclusion and negligent training , supervision and retention of an employee were sufficient , and that White rejected a defense argument that his client did n't have an expectation of privacy in the large emergency room where her unauthorized photo was taken . According to the complaint , the woman was admitted to the county - run hospital in June 2011 after trying to kill herself by thrusting pencils into her eyes . She survived , but was blinded . Lipham was a relief pool nurse employed by the county who also was assigned to care for the plaintiff , according to Doe 's court papers , which say Lipham acknowledged in a June deposition that she sent the photograph to her niece , who in turn gave it to a man named Joshua Shivers , who the plaintiff 's attorneys allege posted the photo . Ciasulli admitted during a deposition that she took a photo of the injured plaintiff and says she did so as a " teaching tool . " She says she later deleted the image and that it was not the photo that turned up on the Internet . Up to a half - dozen other medical workers took similar images of the plaintiff when the injured La Canada Flintridge resident was brought into the County - USC Medical Center emergency room , according to Ciasulli . Ciasulli worked at the time for HRN Services , which supplies hospitals with temporary and supplemental healthcare employees . Shivers uploaded the image in July 2014 onto " one of the most visited shock websites in the world , " the suit says . The same day , he took credit for his actions on a social networking site , saying , " I finally made it in life . Please check out my shiz , " and included a link to the photo , according to the complaint . A week later , he placed the same photo onto a " popular entertainment and social media website , " according to the plaintiff 's attorney , who says it has received more than 192,000 Internet views . Ciasulli said she did not send a copy of the photo she took to Lipham . Shivers in deposition testimony said he did n't know how the photo he posted was taken , but said it was given to him by Alexis Brennecke Siwek , the niece of a nurse at the hospital . ;