>as that of the courts in the novel. Secondly, though K. will likely
>never find out who denounced him, there evidently was, and probably
>still is, a group of "concerned citizens", who, perhaps
maliciously,
>perhaps in good faith but without regard for K.'s civil rights,
>collaborated with SAAQ. One of them was K.'s family physician, who
>suddenly dropped him as a patient while K. was making inquiries,
and
>who turned out to be the author of the medical examination report.
Isn't there something in the State's professional conduct standards
for
physicians about maintaining patient confidentiality? If the family
physician released this kind of information to a 3rd party without
K's
consent, it might be appropriate for K to refer the incident to the
State's professional licensing office for disciplinary action. Also,
K might
want to consider civil action against this physician for the same
reason.
It might be interesting to hunt down the "concerned neighbor" who
made the initial complaint (possibly with a private detective,
posing as
another "concerned neighbor"), and sue that individual for invasion
of
privacy, harassment, or whatever K's friendly neighborhood tort
lawyer
can come up with. (I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice,
but
if someone invaded my life the way they invaded K's, I would see a
lawyer about what could be done, legally, to make sure that person
would
never repeat their behavior, and to make them an example for others
who
might be so inclined- as the French put it, "pour encourager les
autres.")
Regarding the motor vehicles people who were involved, a lot of
negative
publicity in the local newspapers might make them think twice the
next
time. There are always crusading local reporters who like these
stories, and
there is always the editorial page. Bureaucrats DON'T like
controversy.
The purpose of this isn't mere revenge or satisfaction, but (1) to
discourage a
recurrence of the behavior by the original parties or others who
might be inclined to imitate them and, (2) with the lawsuits, to
extract
compensation for the inconvenience. Again, K should see a lawyer to
find out exactly what he can do.
-Bill
