Class action: Athenahealth allegedly allowed Salesforce to quietly record customer online interactions

A class action lawsuit accuses health care networking tech provider Athenahealth of allegedly allowing Salesforce to surreptitiously monitor and record customer online conversations. 

On Dec. 8, attorneys Robert Tauler and Wendy Miele, of Tauler Smith LLP, of Los Angeles, and Kevin J. Cole, of KJC Law Group, of Beverly Hills, filed suit against Athenahealth, of Watertown, Massachusetts, on behalf of named plaintiff Anne Heiting, identified as a resident of California.

According to the complaint, people using the chat box feature on Athenhealth's site are having their conversations secretly recorded and shared with third parties through an iFrame code, allegedly from marketing communications tech vendor Salesforce. The lawsuit accuses Athenahealth of allegedly allowing Salesforce to covertly monitor and record customer online conversations without their consent. This alleged activity violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

The case was filed in Los Angeles federal court.

The plaintiffs seek to expand the action to include a class of additional plaintiffs they estimate will number "in the thousands, if not more."

The plaintiffs are seeking a variety of damages, including unspecified statutory and punitive damages.