Lawsuit allegation: Mercy Joplin nurse used patient records in vendetta against boyfriend's former wife

A class action lawsuit filed against Mercy Health today in Jasper County Circuit Court claims a nursed used patient records to conduct a personal vendetta against her boyfriend's former wife.

The Jasper County woman who filed the lawsuit was married to a security guard at Mercy Joplin who had an affair with a nurse, according to the petition. When the woman found out about the affair, she divorced her husband. The nurse is also named as a defendant.

Beginning in August 2025, the woman, who was being treated for mental health issues, according to the petition, "received an Instagram message from an account she had never seen before telling her that she was “legitimately crazy”, that “grown men don’t want a drunk bitch who is always high on her ‘anxiety pills’ ”, and that her kids would “learn the truth one day.”

"The same account messaged her on August 24, 2025, telling her that “there is something seriously wrong with [her].”

The woman received another message in October 2025 referring to her as a "psycho:" with no friends. She didn't recognize the Instagram account that was messaging her, but she attempted to sign into Instagram with the user name and hit the "forgot password" button.

The e-mail that came up belonged to the Mercy nurse, according to the petition.

Since the woman's doctor worked at Mercy and the nurse would have access to records, the woman contacted Mercy to see whether her records had been improperly accessed.

Mercy responded on April 24, months after being contacted and said the woman's records had been improperly accessed "by one of their employees without a legitimate need."

The lawsuit claims the nurse was never "disciplined, suspended or subjected to remedial training for her actions."

Because Defendant  faced no discipline for her actions she continued accessing other people’s confidential medical records.

Defendant began routinely accessing {the woman's} daughter's medical records.

The daughter was pregnant with her first child and being treated by a doctor at Mercy, the petition said. The daughter wanted to keep the child's gender a secret and hadn't even told her mother, when she began receiving messages from friends and relatives congratulating her on having a girl.

When the daughter examined her records, she discovered the emergency contact information in her records had been changed to her father. She had not changed the contact information, nor had her immediate family or care team, according to the petition.

The daughter who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, changed the contact records, then discovered they had been changed back to list her father. The nurse was still in a relationship with the father, the petition said.

The lawsuit claims Mercy failed to exercise control over confidential patient record, has allowed other employees access to records and "failed to send patients adequate notice of these repeated breaches."

The action, which was filed today by St. Louis attorney Benjamin S. McIntosh, alleges eight counts:

Count 1 (against the nurse)- Public disclosure of private facts

Count 2 (against the nurse) Tortious imtrusion on seclusion

Count 3 (against Mercy) Negligence- Class action claim

Count 4 (against Mercy) Negligent supervision- Class action claim

Count 5 (against Mercy) Breach of fiduciary duty of confidentiality- Class action claim

Count 6 (against Mercy) Unfair business practices- Class action claim

Count 7- (against Mercy) Breach of implied contract- Class action claim

Count 8- (against Mercy) Negligence- Class action claim

The plaintiffs are asking for actual damages, compensatory damages, attorney fees and expenses and demanding a jury trial on all counts.