A judge has unsealed the suit filed against the Salt Lake City School District by parents of a girl who pricked her thumb on a syringe she found on a playground in 1991.
The girl's right to privacy does not outweigh the public's interest in the case, 3rd District Judge Glenn Iwasaki ruled Monday.As a former prosecutor of child sex-abuse cases, the judge said he struggled with similar issues whenever a minor had to testify.
"But in my experience . . . the (news)paper and the courts took great pains in preserving the identity of that child," Iwasaki said.
Now 15 and attending high school, the girl has been repeatedly tested and shows no signs of the AIDS virus. The suit seeks unspecified financial damages for her medical bills and emotional distress.
They asked Iwasaki to seal the suit when it was filed in 1993. The judge granted a request by The Salt Lake Tribune to intervene in the case, and he opened the file after a hearing Monday.
A jury trial is scheduled for June. The family alleges a playground supervisor at Mountain View Elementary School in Salt Lake City was negligent because she told the girl to pick the syringe up with a tissue to dispose of it. The girl pricked herself, breaking the skin.
On Monday, the family's attorney urged the judge to keep the file sealed. Although there is no sign she is HIV-positive, their daughter is afraid of any publicity about the case, John A. Donahue said.
Attorney Sharon Sonnenreich, representing The Tribune, argued that protecting the girl's privacy could be reached through less restrictive measures, such as asking the media to use her initials rather than her name.
Sonnenreich said society has a strong interest in the case, which she said concerns public policy at a public school district and seeks taxpayers' money in damages.