Actor George Clooney (R) arrives with his girlfriend, Sarah Larson, to the premiere of his new film "Michael Clayton" in New York Sept. 24, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

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BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Twenty-seven Palisades Medical Center personnel in North Bergen, New Jersey, who stuck their noses where they should not have been suspended for allegedly perusing George Clooney's confidential medical information after he was injured in a motorcycle crash last month.

Clooney, 46, suffered a broken rib and scrapes in the Sept. 21 crash with a car, while his passenger, Sarah Larson, 28, injured her foot. Both were treated at Palisades Medical Center.

No physicians employed by the hospital were among the employees suspended, said Eurice Rojas, the hospital’s vice president of external affairs, Wednesday.

The investigation was initiated after an audit revealed that employees had looked at the records without authorization, Rojas said. The suspensions began last week and continued this week, he said.

"We conduct audits on a regular basis to make sure our systems are protecting individuals’rights," Rojas said. "We conducted an audit immediately with respect to this situation and that resulted in (the investigation)."

A spokeswoman for the union representing some of the workers said as many as seven of the employees may have been authorized to view the records.

"While we believe that individuals need to be held accountable if they violated patient privacy, we also believe that the hospital had a responsibility to establish proper systems to protect patient privacy," Jeanne Otersen, a spokeswoman for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, said in a statement.

"This is the first I've heard of it," Clooney said in a statement Tuesday. "And while I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers."

(Agencies)