A court recently ordered an accident victim to provide her “Facebook username email and password” to a defendant in an auto accident lawsuit. After a chain-reaction auto accident Jessica Largent and her husband sued Jessica Reed Rosko for negligence that led to serious and permanent physical damages, and loss of consortium. (Keith Largent and Jennifer Largent v. Jessica Reed et al, Civil Action –Law No. 2009-1823, Court of Common Pleas, 39th Judicial District, Franklin County, Pennsylvania).
Ms. Largent testified at her deposition that she had a Facebook profile which she used to regularly play a game called FrontierVille. As a result Ms. Rosko filed a motion to gain access to Ms. Largent’s Facebook profile and on November 7, 2011 Pennsylvania State Judge Richard J. Walsh granted the motion and issued this Order:
…Plaintiff Jennifer Largent shall turn over to Defense counsel her username email and password within 14 days of this Order. Plaintiff shall not delete or otherwise erase any information on her Facebook account. After 35 days from the date of this Order, Plaintiff may change her Facebook login to prevent further access by Defense counsel.
This is not the first time Facebook login information has been ordered disclosed to adverse parties, and given the continued growth in Social Media activity we will see more of these types of orders in the future.