Judge Tosses Lawsuit By DEA Agent Who Shot Himself
The DEA agent who shot himself during a gun safety demonstration to Orlando kids had his lawsuit dismissed, according to the Smoking Gun. In the lawsuit, DEA agent Lee Paige claims that the leaked DEA agent video showing him shooting himself in the leg amounted to a violation of his privacy rights.
The DEA agent video shows Lee Paige holding a gun and saying, "I am the only one in the room professional enough, that I know of, to carry this Glock 40." Ironically, he proceeds to accidentally shoot himself in the leg immediately after. After the video was leaked on the internet, Paige claims that he became the "target of jokes, derision, ridicule, and disparaging comments" everywhere he went.
Lee Paige claims that he had to suffer in this manner because the DEA released the video, Reason Blog reports.
U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom said that Paige failed to present any evidence on the source of the video. The DEA video was shot by private individual on a Mini-DV storage device. That Mini-DV was provided to the DEA, according to the order. However, Judge Shanstrom ruled that Paige was unable to establish that the video footage at issue that was publicized on the Internet came from a protected "system of records" and that the release of the video was done with an "intentional and willful" mental state by the DEA.
As a result, Paige did not meet the Privacy Act's disclosure provision since the
circumstances surrounding the shooting were already in the public domain. Also, the Privacy Act does not allow recovery for emotional and reputational damages.
In this situation, it seems that Lee Paige may have shot himself again in the foot.
Related Resources:
- Privacy In The Workplace: Overview (FindLaw)
- Privacy at Work: What Are Your Rights? (FindLaw)
- Invasion of Privacy (FindLaw)
