Kaylah Walton
A court in Indianapolis has decided that Netflix is required to pay Lori Kennard $385,000, one of the biological children of the controversial fertility specialist Donald Cline, because her identity was disclosed in the documentary ‘Our Father’.
Kennard, along with two other women, filed a lawsuit in 2022 against Netflix and the documentary’s producers, claiming that revealing her name caused emotional harm and invaded their privacy. The film, which discusses Cline’s use of his own sperm to father over 94 children without his patients’ consent, mentioned their names briefly without obtaining permission.
Following a four-day trial, the eight-member jury concluded that Kennard had maintained her anonymity, and the documentary team acted carelessly by not safeguarding that information. In contrast, Sarah Bowling, another plaintiff, did not receive compensation, as the jury found she had already disclosed her connection to Cline on social media.
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt restricted potential damages by stating that punitive damages were not applicable, indicating that the failure to protect the names was merely an “honest mistake” rather than a deliberate action. Nevertheless, the ruling highlighted the need for documentary filmmakers to exercise more caution regarding personal, sensitive information in their productions.
Netflix’s Legal Position
Netflix maintained that the documentary fell under the protection of the First Amendment, asserting that the plaintiffs had disclosed their associations with Cline in public forums, including social media and closed groups. However, the jury found that Kennard’s privacy expectation was not sufficiently compromised by this disclosure.
Robert MacGill, the attorney for Kennard, expressed approval of the verdict, stating: “This outcome reinforces that individuals have a right to privacy, even against the backdrop of media pursuing truthful narratives.”
