After the alleged sexual assault of a University of Oregon freshman by three UO basketball players last spring, interim general counsel Doug Park requested copies of the student’s confidential therapy records.
Park told the UO Senate’s sexual and gender-based violence committee that he would have acted differently before requesting the record.
At the meeting on Monday, Park said he was following the August demands of the student’s attorneys to gather every document that related to the then pending federal civil lawsuit against the UO, The Register-Guard reported.
The suit was filed in January and includes a claim that the university illegally obtained the survivor’s confidential therapy records in December. She did not authorize the release of the records, and therefore, the lawsuit says the UO violated federal and state privacy laws.
Park told the committee that the university should have been more clear about what kinds of records were being requested.
This action taken with the student’s records prompted a perception among UO students that their private records were not safe, UO law professor and committee member, Ibrahim Gassama said.
UO psychology professor Jennifer Freyd expressed concern that the way the records were handled made it easy for other UO employees to possibly view them.
Park said he was confident that no one in his office saw the files.
Follow Jennifer Fleck on Twitter: @JenniferFleck