Page:Touhy v. Walgreen Company.pdf/20

 indicate the content of any communication. The same can be said of the evidence showing various other social connections between Ms. Whitlock and Mr. Abrams. The hostile email to Ms. Touhy revealing that Ms. Frazier knew about Ms. Touhy's condition indicates nothing about where Ms. Frazier acquired the information, and Ms. Frazier's knowledge is unsurprising given that Mr. Abrams, her boyfriend, already knew about Ms. Touhy's condition at that time. Finally, Ms. Whitlock's testimony that she knew that Mr. Abrams at some point identified her as his source of information provides no basis to infer that she actually was the source given that she also testified that it was counsel for Walgreen – not Ms. Frazier or Mr. Abrams – who informed Ms. Whitlock that Mr. Abrams had previously identified her as his source.

To be sure, the circumstantial evidence demonstrates that Mr. Abrams and Ms. Whitlock are sufficiently connected to one another socially – primarily by way of Ms. Frazier – so that a jury could reasonably conclude that something said by Ms. Whitlock to Ms. Frazier would eventually find its way to Mr. Abrams. Jurors, after all, are allowed to bring with them knowledge of how back fence gossip works. But the claims Ms. Touhy pursues require more than that. To prevail in this case, Ms. Touhy must prove that Ms. Whitlock accessed and then disclosed Ms. Touhy's confidential health information. Other than the bare fact she worked for Walgreen, there is no competent evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, to indicate Ms. Whitlock did anything of the sort. - 20 -