An Eden woman's lawsuit against the local Fox television affiliate and her plastic surgeon for broadcasting her near-nude photos has overcome early obstacles on its way to a possible trial date.
Coni Judge's lawsuit in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City claims Dr. Renato Saltz e-mailed KSTU Channel 13 news before-and-after photos of her in the nude from her medical file without her knowledge or permission.
The Fox news station added small black boxes to cover genitalia and breast areas before broadcasting the images for a segment on selecting cosmetic surgeons and the pitfalls of the invasive surgery.
Fox is claiming First Amendment protections in the invasion of privacy and negligence suit.
According to the court pleadings, the doctor says Judge gave her consent to a member of his staff.
Judge's attorney says the doctor's lawyer wants to turn the case into a malpractice fight to benefit from the $500,000 cap on malpractice judgements under Utah law.
The suit is still in its pretrial motion and discovery phase with a trial date likely a year off.
Judge, 40, is a Harrisville native who moved back to Weber County about six years ago after working in London as an image consultant.
In December, a judge denied motions from Fox and Saltz, the former seeking dismissal of the suit, and the latter a vast array of information on Judge, from gynecological exams to Facebook postings.
Fox's lawyer, Jeff Hunt, was prepared to appeal the decision, but Judge's counsel, Greg Hoole, agreed to drop negligence claims against Fox in return for Hunt's dropping the appeal.
"We saved a year of appellate time that way," Hoole said.
Hunt said First Amendment protections "certainly apply" to the publication of the semi-nude photos.
"The ability to broadcast a story of public interest and concern makes it free expression. It's speech which is protected," he said.
"Before you can impose liability on a member of the press, heightened protections apply to give some breathing room to journalists."
He pointed out Judge is not claiming defamation or libel in the suit, but rather invasion of privacy and "false light" in that the publication of the photos imply she approved of their publication.
Hoole said the inclusion of the semi-nude pictures was not journalism but titillation.
"It had nothing to do with plastic surgery nightmares, the theme of the news story. They had shown pictures of the nightmare outcomes already," he said.
"They were showing the scintillating successful outcomes for no other reason than to pique viewers' interest. And they teased it several times."
In court pleadings, Saltz's lawyer, Robert Wright, asserted entitlement to so much of Judge's medical data because of the "possibility" it might be relevant because Judge is claiming physical ailments from the stress following the broadcast.
Hoole called those defeated efforts a fishing expedition and an apparent attempt to make the case a malpractice argument.
"Ironically, that would actually help them, with the malpractice cap on damages a jury can award," Hoole said. "He (Wright) keeps referring to it as a malpractice case."
Wright wouldn't discuss that claim or any other aspect of the case, saying to all questions, "No comment. It's pending litigation."
Judge did take part in an interview with Fox 13 for the Jan. 31, 2008, broadcast, posing with Saltz for video footage to demonstrate some of the processes involved with cosmetic surgery.
Judge is a self-employed image consultant who operates two businesses: Eden Communications, consulting in corporate communications, and Bloom Service, dealing in individual image coaching.
Her clients have included executives with British Petroleum, one of the world's largest companies, among others.
Judge has appeared on cable television shows conducting cosmetic makeovers and, at one point, was even a consultant for a Fox 13 news reporter.
According to the lawsuit, Judge has lost a majority of her clients since the show on cosmetic surgery aired.
The suit also said she has faced the daily trauma of wondering if those she encounters have seen the broadcast or come across the photos on the Internet, and if not, whether she should inform them of the circumstances.
Nielsen Media Ratings determined the broadcast was seen by 83,000 viewers, according to the suit, and was timed to run during a ratings night.
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