Social Media posts by the Plaintiff ARE Discoverable

Nicolette John, Esq. and Thomas Paradise, Esq. (Broward/Hollywood, Florida) represented Target Corporation and successfully defended against an appeal ( Writ of Certiorari) filed by a Plaintiff in a case where a personal injury Plaintiff objected to providing photographs which she had posted to Facebook. The Plaintiff, who was making a claim for personal injuries, mental anguish, and pain and suffering, was allegedly involved in a slip and fall incident that occurred at a Target store. We sought to compel the production of the photographs posted to the Plaintiff’s Facebook account. The Plaintiff objected but the trial court overruled the Plaintiff’s objections and ordered the production of any photographs which depict the Plaintiff posted on her social media accounts as well as on her cell phone. The Plaintiff immediately appealed and filed the Writ to the Fourth District Court of Appeals with regard to her social media postings only arguing that her Facebook settings were set to private and that therefore the trial court’s order unconstitutionally invaded her right to privacy and violated the Federal Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. __ 2701-2712. In its 11 page detailed opinion the appellate court ruled that the photographs being sought were reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence as they are powerfully relevant to the damage issues in the lawsuit” and further stated that there is no better portrayal of what an individual’s life was like than those photographs the individual has chosen to share through social media.” Please see our article in this issue for more details.