Interrupted Service: Woman Sues Telephone Company After Billing Records Exposed Her Affair

Now this is an interesting torts case. Gabriella Nagy in Toronto is suing Rogers Wireless Inc. over its billing practices. This is not some dispute over over-charges or late penalties. Nagy is accusing the company of exposing her affair to her husband by allowing him to see her call records to her lover. He promptly left her. She is demanding $600,000 for invasion of privacy and breach of contract.

The disclosure was made in 2007 when Nagy’s husband decided to add internet and home phone service in a global account. That resulted in Nagy’s call records going to the house and the discovery that she had calls of over one hour with a stranger. The husband called the number and the man disclosed the affair. The complaint is based on the company’s consolidation of the accounts even though the wife had put her phone records under her maiden name: “the unilateral action by the defendant was done without the knowledge, information, belief, acquiescence or approval of the plaintiff.”

For its part, the company insists that it “cannot be held responsible for the condition of the marriage, for the plaintiff’s affair and consequential marriage break-up, nor the effects the break-up has had on her.”

This case reminds me of a story from Chicago where one of the older hotels went through a major overhaul. A new manager was brought in from the East and promptly sent cards to all of its most steady customers. He did not notice that many of the addresses were local when he offered a free stay due to their regular business. The result was a rash of divorces around Chicago as wives asked their husbands why they were regular customers at a downtown hotel.

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