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It has happened three times, the last time has me blowing smoke out of my ears.
She has cancer and just had surgery but shared my medical to a stranger (to me) via email from home. I am trying to stay sensitive to her current state plus she is my boss so good not to offend but I AM LIVID.
Best approach? I'm furious but do not like to act when under heavy emotion (especially when it involves employment).
It has happened three times, the last time has me blowing smoke out of my ears.
She has cancer and just had surgery but shared my medical to a stranger (to me) via email from home. I am trying to stay sensitive to her current state plus she is my boss so good not to offend but I AM LIVID.
Best approach? I'm furious but do not like to act when under heavy emotion (especially when it involves employment).
Thank you for any insight.
Discuss this with your HR dept and if they fail to correct it, be prepared to take legal action.
Know that the sharing of medical information is not prohibited if you voluntarily provided that information to a person outside the employment protective channels. So, if your boss obtained your medical information on a confidential employer employee basis (lets say FMLA request), it's protected confidential information and your boss would be violating the regulations is they disclose it. However, if you two were freely jabbering about medial issues to each other, you removed the confidentiality.
Discuss this with your HR dept and if they fail to correct it, be prepared to take legal action.
Know that the sharing of medical information is not prohibited if you voluntarily provided that information to a person outside the employment protective channels. So, if your boss obtained your medical information on a confidential employer employee basis (lets say FMLA request), it's protected confidential information and your boss would be violating the regulations is they disclose it. However, if you two were freely jabbering about medial issues to each other, you removed the confidentiality.
Oh interesting about the jibby jabber. Illegal or not it is despicable. We work for a hospital and we guard our patients' privacy...so. Plus I am a patient here. I will need FMLA so she is in the loop - I have received poor care over the months so things are not progressing as we assumed. Plus I call in sick a lot and can be fired for that, we are allowed only three "occurrences" a year - of any kind of unplanned lateness or call in for the day and she has been generous on that front.
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I have had several people on FMLA and as the manager I don't even get details, only HR and the consultants we use to administer for us, due to the complicated laws and chances for lawsuit (as in this case). If the employ tells someone, manager or not, then they will have a hard time winning a case. It's frustrating for the others who have to pick up the workload, not knowing why, but it's the law.
I've often questioned though in certain circumstances why other employees are NOT allowed to know certain conditions?
Example: Joe and John are both required to move a large item from one office to another. Joe tells John, sorry bud, no can do! WIth no further explanation. John is left to move it on his own. When John discusses this change of events to his boss, nothing further is done. The boss is not allowed to tell John that Joe has had by pass surgery and a bad back. So John is left to do all the work in lifting and Joe still gets paid to stand around.
ANyways...If my medical is discussed with others I am sure its for the good of the staff....I would hate to be in an office where people just kept typing or answering phone calls when I am prone to seizures and deserve attention ....But alas we live in a See no evil , speak no evil and have such indifference to humanity in the workplace.
I've often questioned though in certain circumstances why other employees are NOT allowed to know certain conditions?
Example: Joe and John are both required to move a large item from one office to another. Joe tells John, sorry bud, no can do! WIth no further explanation. John is left to move it on his own. When John discusses this change of events to his boss, nothing further is done. The boss is not allowed to tell John that Joe has had by pass surgery and a bad back. So John is left to do all the work in lifting and Joe still gets paid to stand around.
ANyways...If my medical is discussed with others I am sure its for the good of the staff....I would hate to be in an office where people just kept typing or answering phone calls when I am prone to seizures and deserve attention ....But alas we live in a See no evil , speak no evil and have such indifference to humanity in the workplace.
You may be comfortable sharing your medical information, but others are not nor should they be required to nor should they have their privacy violated.
Oh interesting about the jibby jabber. Illegal or not it is despicable. We work for a hospital and we guard our patients' privacy...so. Plus I am a patient here. I will need FMLA so she is in the loop - I have received poor care over the months so things are not progressing as we assumed. Plus I call in sick a lot and can be fired for that, we are allowed only three "occurrences" a year - of any kind of unplanned lateness or call in for the day and she has been generous on that front.
This is one of the reasons I am opposed to electronic medical records. Almost anyone at a hospital can look them up not just the doctors and people DO gossip about them and share it.
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