Wise v. Thrifty Payless, Inc. — Sept. 2000 (Summary)

Wise v. Thrifty Payless, Inc.
No. C032388 (Cal. App. Sept. 29, 2000)

A female customer received her prescription drugs from Thrifty Payless Pharmacy.  The customer specifically instructed the pharmacy not to release any information concerning the medications that she received from the pharmacy to her husband with whom she was in the midst of a divorce. Despite these instructions, the pharmacy released a report of the customer’s prescription drug information to the customer’s husband. After the release of the information, what
had been an amicable divorce became a heated custody battle. The husband used the pharmacy report to contend that his wife was a prescription drug addict. Additionally, the husband used the pharmacy’s report to initiate an investigation by the Department of Motor Vehicles as to whether his wife was fit to operate a motor vehicle. The husband’s conduct was shielded from liability by California’s litigation privilege. The pharmacy claimed that it too should be shielded from liability by this privilege. However, the California Court of Appeals rejected this claim and upheld a $100,000 jury verdict against the pharmacy.