According to Nash Finch’s lawyer, Allison Chock, the person posting the comments gave away “confidential, proprietary financial information”. The information allegedly violates business codes and ethics and it is believed that whoever is responsible, possibly an employee of the company, could be liable under breach of contract. According to Chock, the person could also face punitive damages for misappropriating trade secrets.
Nash Finch has ordered Yahoo! to disclose the identity of the message poster. Yahoo! must notify the individual to allow him or her to request that the court blocks any identification. If the person does not respond to Yahoo!, then Yahoo! must turn the identity information over to the court.
A judge in Illinois has ruled that the operator an anti-abortion web site must remove medical records of a woman who had experienced post-abortion medical complications from the site. The judge stated in a preliminary ruling that the postings constituted a violation of her privacy.