The Mount Kisco-based hospital recently gave a 28-page response to Molly and Douglas Kennedy’s lawsuit, which said Northern Westchester Hospital nurse Cari Luciano had unauthorized access to Anthony Boru Kennedy’s medical records weeks after the infant was discharged from the hospital. However, the response also states she didn’t violate patient-privacy laws.
The Chappaqua couple's suit follows Kennedy's acquittal on child endangerment and harassment charges stemming from an altercation at the hospital last year. Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is a reporter for Fox News.
On Jan. 7, 2012, Kennedy attempted to leave the hospital's maternity ward with 2-day-old son Bo after telling hospital staff he wanted to take the baby outside for "fresh air." Nurses Luciano and Anna Lane attempted to prevent him from doing so.
The couples' 44-page lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Westchester County, alleges that Luciano assaulted him. It says she "aggressively lunged at [Kennedy] with her arms extended in an aggressive posture causing a forceful and violent encounter with [Kennedy's] body."
In testimony during the October criminal trial and subsequent civil lawsuit, the nurses claimed Kennedy twisted Lane’s arm as she held the doorknob to a stairwell and kicked Luciano in the groin as she reached toward the baby.
The Kennedys are seeking unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress. They also accuse the three defendants of defamation of character and hold the hospital vicariously liable for these allegations.
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