After their long-term relationship ended, Maggie Moulton brought various claims against William Goodell, including a tort claim alleging that he gave her genital herpes without disclosing his infection status. In discovery, Moulton sought identification of Goodell’s primary care providers and records for all medical visits over the course of more than a decade, as well as the identification of and records for all medical lab reports since 2020. Goodell objected to the discovery requests, asserting that the information and records in question were protected by his right to privacy under the Georgia Constitution.
After Goodell objected, Moulton filed a motion to compel. She also moved for qualified protective orders. Moulton argued that (1) discoverability of certain medical information necessarily follows from Georgia law’s recognition of the tort of negligent transmission of an STD; (2) Goodell placed his health care status at issue both by having unprotected sex with Moulton and by denying in his Answer that he has herpes; and (3) Goodell waived his medical privacy as to Moulton by naming her as his health care agent, allowing her to accompany him into exam rooms at medical appointments, and leaving medical documents and medication in open view in their home. Moulton also argued at a hearing that the Court’s precedent on the State’s ability to obtain a criminal defendant’s medical records meant that “[y]ou just have to go through the right process[,]” and “here I think that we’ve gone through the right process.”
The trial court denied Moulton’s motion to compel to the extent that it sought Goodell’s medical records and also denied the corresponding motion for qualified protective orders. The trial court relied on the notion that medical information and documents are generally protected by the Georgia Constitution, as reinforced by the Georgia Evidence Code, specifically OCGA §§ 24-12-10, 24-12-11, and 24-12-12. The trial court concluded that Goodell did not waive his right to privacy through his prior cohabitation with Moulton, designation of her as his health care agent, or the positions that he had taken in the litigation. But the trial court did not consider explicitly the interests of anyone other than Goodell, including Moulton, in determining whether compelling disclosure of the information and records at issue would violate Goodell’s constitutional right to privacy.
The Georgia Supreme Court stated in its August 11, 2026 Opinion: “[I]t is clear that Goodell has a Georgia constitutional right to privacy in the medical information and records at issue … Given that Pavesich defines the right that Goodell seeks to assert here, we conclude that the proper approach is one consistent with that case. As outlined above, that necessarily involves an “elastic,” nuanced, case-by-case balancing of competing interests by the trial court. In this case, that would involve balancing Goodell’s claimed right of privacy in his medical records against Moulton’s interest in seeking a remedy for damages she has allegedly suffered and her need for the records to support her claims, as well as any interest the State may have. And due regard must also be given to the public’s rights to open courtrooms and accessible court records … This balancing-of-interests approach is consistent with permitting a party in civil litigation to compel limited disclosure of private records for which they have shown a litigation need, subject to an appropriate protective order that ensures the records do not unnecessarily become public … the appropriate constitutional balancing could take into account whatever restrictions might be put in place to limit distribution or other usage of Goodell’s medical information and documents.”
Source Goodell v. Moulton, No. S25G1418.
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