Health authorities have fined a California hospital $250,000 for its inability to maintain privacy of octuplet mother Nadya Suleman. The employees of the hospital were found sneaking in the medical records of Suleman.

Spokeswoman Kathleen Billingsley of the California Department of Health says the steps Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower hospital took to protect Suleman's privacy were not aggressive enough.

Kaiser Permanente spokesman Jim Anderson said Thursday the $250,000 fine was not expected after the hospital reported the privacy violations itself to the state and fired 15 workers in March.

Anderson says the state's report found that the hospital did not do enough to prevent the privacy breaches, though the hospital did warn workers to stay away from Suleman's files.