A former employee's refusal to take a COVID-19 test has led to a contentious legal battle over medical privacy rights. Ryan Owen Frayo filed a complaint in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Sixth Appellate District, on May 29, 2024, against his former employer A&A Organic Farms Corporation and its owners Andrew D. Martin and Aimee M. Raphael-Martin.
Ryan Owen Frayo, a top salesman at A&A Organic Farms Corporation, was terminated after refusing to comply with the company's COVID-19 testing policy. The company had implemented guidelines requiring employees to provide a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to work if they exhibited symptoms or were exposed to the virus. On May 17, 2021, Frayo informed Martin via text that he was feeling unwell with symptoms such as sweating and headache. Martin requested that Frayo get tested for COVID-19 at a CVS pharmacy before returning to work. When Frayo refused, citing personal beliefs and legal concerns, Martin warned him that failure to comply would be considered resignation.
The next day, Martin reiterated the request for the test results during a phone call, but Frayo again declined. On May 19, 2021, A&A informed Frayo that his employment would be terminated if he did not submit to the COVID-19 test and disclose the results. After failing to comply with this directive, Frayo's employment was terminated on May 20, 2021.
In March 2022, Frayo sued A&A Organic Farms Corporation and its owners under section 56.20 of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA). He alleged two causes of action: first, that his termination violated section 56.20(b) by discriminating against him for refusing to provide medical information; second, that using his symptom descriptions as grounds for termination violated section 56.20(c). However, after voluntarily dismissing individual defendants Martin and Raphael-Martin from the initial complaint without prejudice on May 9, 2022, A&A demurred on grounds that necessary elements under CMIA were not met.
The trial court sustained A&A’s demurrer without leave to amend after finding that Frayo failed to state a claim under CMIA because he neither signed an authorization for releasing medical information nor provided any medical information derived from healthcare providers as defined by CMIA. The court ruled that asking an employee directly for test results does not equate to requesting authorization under CMIA provisions.
Frayo appealed this decision but faced similar conclusions at the appellate level. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment stating that no viable cause of action existed under sections 56.20(b) or (c) of CMIA since no authorization was requested or refused by Frayo as required by law and no medical information from healthcare providers was possessed by A&A.
Frayo sought damages for wrongful termination and violations of privacy rights but failed due to procedural shortcomings in establishing claims under CMIA statutes which protect confidentiality of individually identifiable medical information obtained from healthcare providers.
Representing Ryan Owen Frayo was Emilio Rene Dorame-Martinez from Martinez Law Office while Howard Lawrence Williams along with Mark Patrick Iezza and Thomas Kevin Hockel from Iezza & Hockel PC defended A&A Organic Farms Corporation alongside Eileen Mary Rice from Klein Hockel Iezza & Patel PC.
The case ID is H050689 with Honorable Timothy Volkmann presiding over Santa Cruz County Superior Court proceedings.