Ignat

*810 Opinion

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Melissa Ignat appeals from a judgment of dismissal after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Yum! Brands, Inc., alleged to be Ignat’s employer, and Mary Shipma,- her immediate supervisor, on Ignat’s single cause of action for public disclosure of private facts. The basis of Ignat’s suit was Shipma’s alleged disclosure to Ignat’s coworkers of her bipolar condition.

This is Ignat’s second trip to our court. She appealed from a prior dismissal on summary judgment after the trial court refused to consider a late-filed opposition. We sent the case back for a decision on the merits. (Ignat v. Yum! Brands, Inc. (Mar. 1, 2011, G043098) [nonpub. opn.].)

That decision took the form of the trial court granting summary judgment on the ground the right of privacy can be violated only by a writing, not by word of mouth. 1 Because Ignat had not produced any document disclosing private facts, she could not pursue this cause of action. The trial court lamented the “irrationality” of this rule, but felt itself bound by precedent.

We believe this rule—to the extent it is still observed—is outmoded and interferes with a person’s right to…