It is understandable that employers and senior executives will always prioritize the interest of their company. But in some cases, they tend to overdo this to the extent they violate the privacy of their workers.
One of the most controversial employment issues is about worker’s health condition and his right of privacy. This topic was discussed by Lawyer Jeremy Pasternak in his article “New Area of Employment Litigation: Violation of Employees’ Health Care Policy”.
According to Pasternak, the company has no right to force its employees to disclose their health condition and it is illegal to threaten them with termination or demotion if they refuse to do so. He added that it is also illegal to ask a doctor about the health condition of a patient without the latter’s permission.
Pasternak said there are companies which are nosy on their workers’ health condition. Thinking that the interest of the business should always come first, employers have the tendency to search out sensitive information about their workers especially about their health status, he added. Meanwhile, this is illegal according to the Federal and state law as it violates the privacy of people.
Another common problem workers are facing nowadays is the abusive companies who deny them with medical leaves. In his article, Pasternak mentioned one case when a woman was forced to postpone her surgery since her superior denied her medical leave saying that the time is “inconvenient”.
According to the lawyer, it is the company which should accommodate its employees with disability or those with urgent medical needs, not the other way around. In this premise, it is clear that the company has violated the right of the woman.
The lawyer also stressed the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act which requires employers to ensure the confidentiality of their workers’ health status. This means that the company should not disclose any health-related information it acquires unless the worker has given permission to do so.
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