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Boss Disclosed Medical records to all employes

M

mtop2036

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
283
First off I know this isnt quite the right place for this but I couldnt make a thread in the law section.

Long story short, I confessed to my boss why I was missing so much work, which was and is opiate addiction. Being the nicest and best boss i've ever had hes letting me keep my job and putting me on a health plan that gives me a 3 month grace period where he cant fire me from my drug use. And Im still working full time.

I missed a week to get clean and when I came back everyone knew.First day, Cold shoulders, evil eyes, the "are you ok?", "how are you feeling?", "did you go to rehab", and people who would normally talked to me have stopped. There is over 40 employees and they all think Im a crazy junkie.

I came to found out that my boss had told management which Im cool with and it legal. But he also told his brother who techniclly isnt a employee but "on call". And it was his brother who blabbed his fat fuckin mouth to everyone. My first day I was about to freak the fuck out and walk out. If I knew this was going to happen I would have never told my boss and probably just end up quiting. This isnt helping my sobriety. Quite depressing and fucked up on many levels.

Point is he released my medical records without my permission, and it definitely caused a problem. Highly illegal? Yes. Idk if im going to pursure this or not depending on how the next couple of days go but do you guys think I could have a lawsuit?
 
IDK, have you mentioned it to your boss? I'm curious what he'd have to say.

I'll move this to Second Opinion, probably the best open forum for this question.
 
Did he really release your medical records or just tell your coworkers u were taking off to get over drug addiction?

Its definitely amoral but it's not far off from ur boy telling all ur friends ur addicted to opiates...is that really disclosing medical records tho?

It's a thin line, I would def confront him before you decide whether it's worth it to take legal action...google disclosing medical records and see what comes up

But honestly tho it sucks but if your coworkers are closed minded enough to think less of you b.c you developed an opiate problem then they're shitheads anyway
 
Oh geeze what a horrible situation!! You are totally being harassed and victimized. You need to approach your boss about this immediately, especially if it is causing you so much stress that you had to walk out.

They have definitely breached the employee confidentiality and harassment law ... you need to let your boss know how this is effecting you asap and take it from there. If nothing gets done, take it further.
 
it depends on what outcome your seeking. The cats out of the bag and your colleagues and peers will distrust you. Whenever you have a day off in the future people will assume that your getting high. Suing your company won't get you anywhere. It might make your company learn the word confidential but you'll be 6-12 months deep in lawyers and court hearings and shit like that. Nothing that your boss can do to make those people forget the gossip.

That said talk to your boss about what's happen. Explain you feel hurt and betrayed, that this is now affecting how your colleagues work with you and that its very upsetting. Ironically its hardly something that you need if your trying to treat your opiate addiction. Tell him your doubtful that there is any solution and that you would appreciate his bests efforts in creating an exit plan and assisting you in obtaining alternate employment.

at least that's what I'd be doing.
 
Unfortunately he didn't disclose your medical records at all. To disclose them, he would have to have them in the first instance, which he hasn't. What he did was utterly immoral and frankly disgraceful- but not illegal.

If you had told him nothing and he had spread that particular story, you may have had a case. As it does- he was just a dick.

Best of luck with your sobriety regardless. You deserve it for being so willing to be honest in the first instance.
 
As the others said what happened in your situation is highly annoying, but not technically illegal.

I would suggest that if it looks like working in that environment will cause you to relapse then I would leave. I would confront your boss and tell him that you no longer feel comfortable around your co-workers because everyone knows your personal/private business.

Please put yourself first when in recovery for an addiction, if you feel that environment is making you want to use again, then please go out of it.
 
It would be interesting to see if your company has any sort of written procedure regarding the disclosure of confidential employee records like personnel or medical files. Surely conveying any information to outsiders without your consent is wrong & completely unethical.
 
If you like/need the job, it's time to bring your 'A game' on a daily basis.
Sounds like a horrible position to be in, best wishes
 
The same thing happened to me, literally word for word (opiate addiction, 3 month grace period, coming back, etc). everyone was real supportive on the surface at first, commenting on how good I looked and how I was like "captainballs times 10 now." But inevitably, whenever I was having a bad, tired day, the eyes started coming out - people suspiciously asking if I was okay, as though i am too stupid to understand patronizing sarcasm. Then the rumors started to spread, and I was demoralized at work. I talked to a lawyer, and the truth is that practically, there is no case. No employee will come forward and admit to anything in any arbitration or court room, same with the bosses. They have the medical leave paper, and that is the only evidence. Everything else is stacked against you. And besides, a judge can make the call that once you take your information outside of the doctor's office and tell someone what's going on, you've waived a lot of your privacy. It's a sticky situation, and there is no right answer - just expensive lawyer fees with no profit to be had. Those people already think of you what they want, and the boss/owner will cover his ass in ways that will out-bank you in the court room even if they're abuse of process.

I ended up just switching jobs like a pussy and staying on good terms with the bosses and owners who probably just wanted to see me get better in their own small-minded way, not knowing what their culture was doing to me. I suggest you find another job or risk blowing up at work and burning your connections or relapsing in a very public way.
 
If you still have the job, they obviously think you're still capable of doing it. Forget what the other people think... If they believe the stigmatized view of drug users, they think you're either a hopeless addict or one who has undergone recovery. Since you still have your job, you're obviously a member of the latter category. Just be mindful of your appearance and people will have no choice but to believe you have succeeded since they only see the issue in black and white.

I went through a similar situation but not from addiction but nodding out at work (8()... I cleaned up my act and was back in everyone's good graces within a month. I believe in these situations, the way it turns out is ultimately up to you.
 
If you were to resign because of it, I'm sure it would contribute towards a sucessful claim for constructive dismissal. Make sure you register a contermporaneous complaint with your employer in writing asap though if you decide to take this route. And check with an employment lawyer too.
 
i had something similar happen - i am on light duty because of a work injury and my manager discussed my restrictions with some other employees. they are not in a supervisory role and it is none of their damn business. i had my union rep tell him to knock it the fuck off, but this doesn't change the fact that it happened and my privacy was violated.

there really ain't much more i can do about it though, unless he gets caught doing it again.
 
chugs said:
it depends on what outcome your seeking. The cats out of the bag and your colleagues and peers will distrust you. Whenever you have a day off in the future people will assume that your getting high. Suing your company won't get you anywhere. It might make your company learn the word confidential but you'll be 6-12 months deep in lawyers and court hearings and shit like that. Nothing that your boss can do to make those people forget the gossip.

That said talk to your boss about what's happen. Explain you feel hurt and betrayed, that this is now affecting how your colleagues work with you and that its very upsetting. Ironically its hardly something that you need if your trying to treat your opiate addiction. Tell him your doubtful that there is any solution and that you would appreciate his bests efforts in creating an exit plan and assisting you in obtaining alternate employment.

at least that's what I'd be doing.
Click to expand...

^ This!

In short, yes, you have a "case" (not that your boss released your records, but that you're experiencing harassment in the work place) and it's entirely lawsuit-worthy, but when all is said and done, even after settling outside of court, nothing will have changed, really... everyone will still know about your dirty little secret, and you will still be looking for employment elsewhere.

Believe me, I have been there and done that. I've sued an employer before, and it was worth it to me because I had nothing better to do (seriously), nothing to lose, and it was the principle of the thing; but it's a long, drawn-out process that will take up nearly all your time and energy. If you plan to represent yourself, then you'd better hit the books, learn the process, learn the terminology, research all relevant cases, make copies, take notes... it's not something you can just do at your leisure; it's more than just a bit of googling, and it's a lot of work!

That being said, I can understand your frustration. Jobs are not an easy thing to come by, not anymore, and having to look for employment elsewhere when you really shouldn't have to in the first place and all because of someone else's screw-up... yeah, that sucks!

That was my reason for doing what I did, and I have to tell you, settling outside of court and on my terms was a very, very satisfying experience. Taking phone calls from the other guy's attorney and threatening, er, suggesting that I may amend the lawsuit for a more substantial amount of money... unbelievably awesome. Their calling me back two days later to settle for the amount of money I asked for and not one cent less? Better than sex!

It's the opportunity to act like a total dick, and it's an awesome thing, but again, it's a lot of work, and you should know what you're getting yourself into before you go ahead and do it.

EDIT: I should probably mention that had my boss not been such a douchebag, and had he tried to do more for me, then I'm not sure I would have even considered suing him in the first place. It sounds to me like your boss may not be such a bad guy, and it might be better for you to have him as your friend than to have him pay out to you this one time and never want to see your face again.
 
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No good deed goes unpunished, as evidenced here. Your boss, being a nice guy, let you walk for being a drug addict whereas most other people would fire you. He thinks this entitles him to go around telling people how awesome he is for helping out a junkie. He thinks that you will weigh the good with the bad and find him innocent. He is wrong. You will eventually make the decision to sue, but you may as well skip the moral dilemma and start targeting him now with a lawyer who believes in the case and is willing to split the pie. This world doesn't favor people who don't attack first. Talking to him will only confuse you and hurt your case.
 
It really doesn't matter how it happened; the truth will never come out anyways. Dude if you haven't already started leaving voicemails on lawyers' phones finding out what your real odds are, then you're just wasting time. They'll find a reason to fire you at work.

Here's a life lesson for you about people, jobs, money, and employment in general: wait until you're over 35 to start hurting others before they hurt you, and you've lost the game. Start taking whatever killer instinct you have and stomp on whatever you can as hard as you can. Life can be very long if you don't, a lesson I learned from trying to debate what's right or wrong about how to handle situations similar (and in one instance almost exactly the same) as yours. It's not just a job, it's YOU or THEM. Who's it going to be?

Try to maintain a bridge by getting different people to be your references for your next job in advance. People who will lie for you about questions like, "why did he leave his job?" It just doesn't pay to play it straight when you're a drug addict in the U.S. Don't sit here and be like me, 27, pissed that I didn't stomp the shit out of more people who got in the way of you being successful.
 
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captainballs said:
Here's a life lesson for you about people, jobs, money, and employment in general: wait until you're over 35 to start hurting others before they hurt you, and you've lost the game. Start taking whatever killer instinct you have and stomp on whatever you can as hard as you can.
Click to expand...

LOL! It's such a shitty thing to say, but it's true. It's absolutely true...
 
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