Employers & confidentiality

I have a bit of a situation at work and need some feedback.

I have seasonal depression. My plan of action is to take anti-depressants fall through the end of th year. Besides the fact that missing work because of depression is no fun, being depressed is, in general, the absolute pits.

So this year I hit a snag in my plan. In October, my daughter gave me a head cold and, because I'd been doing a lot of dry wall work at home, it turned into an upper respiratory infection very fast (24 hours). I missed a chunk of work, and lost over half of my paycheck. I don't get sick pay.

Because of losing so much money, I literally did not have the money to refill the prescription for my anti-depressants. I thought it wouldn't be so bad, I was only going off of them a few weeks ahead of schedule - about 5 weeks. But I was wrong. The depression hit hard. So I missed more work.

Here is where the situation gets sticky. My supervisor, who is the office manager and human resources manager, is aware of my condition. We work with a vendor who tweaks our accounting program. The guy is awesome. I have a lot of respect for him professionally and am fond of him personally. However, I have never informed him of my depression. I am generally pretty close-mouthed about it, as I've experienced too many people who do not understand and, though they may be well-intentioned, have said some pretty outrageous, asinine, and generally hurtful things about it.

So, while I was gone, this vendor was talking to my supervisor over the phone and asked her what I was sick with, and she told him that I was depressed. The fact that he of all people knows is not what bothers me. What bothers me is that my boss breached my confidentiality. She has always been one to impress upon me and anyone else who is working in our office that what goes on in our office is of a highly confidential nature, and is never to go beyond our door. And yet she breaks the confidentiality herself.

I'm going to be talking to her and her supervisor tomorrow. At this point, I have a difficult time even expressing my outrage over this.

I'm so sorry. It's outrageous. If not illegal!

However, there are other ways to deal with SAD. My husband suffers from it, and he is a different man after sitting in front of these light boxes.

http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/

They are a miracle. He is no longer on anti depressants and he's back to being the man I married 20 years ago.

Last year they didn't work, though. I suspect it has something to do with the stress of my job. Anyway, I am fine with taking anti-depressants. Zoloft works for me and has no side effects (I'm real touchy with side effects).

Google "HIPPA", print it and shove it down her throat. Offer to read it to her.

if it doesn't fall under HIPAA it most certainly counts as a major breach of common human courtesy

Having been in a supervisory role, there was a situation where a person on my team had an illness and even though my team was very close, I couldn't disclose any information to the other employees. Even though I was sure the ill employee wouldn't mind.

...private medical information. Should have simply said that you were being treated for a medical condition without divulging what it was. Although the original mistake sounds fairly innocent, look out for retaliation. For instance being fired if they perceive you to be a threat for asserting your rights. That's a big no no in the eyes of the law.

Contact the EEOC.

Revealing private medical information is a big HIPPA violation.

I brought it up in our meeting today. My supervisor apologized then and later as well. I believe she is sorry, but damn ... The president said "And it won't happen again." I guess that's supposed to make me feel better.

But here's the gist of the meeting. I missed 8 days due to the seasonal depression, which they are aware I have. They retaliated by giving me a written warning for excessive absences. Now how is this for ironic - I miss time due to an illness, and have a doctor's excuse, my boss violates my privacy and probably the law as well. Who gets a written warning on their employee file?

Thanks for the link to the EEOC - I've been doing some research tonight. Here is what I found:

Leave

Permitting the use of accrued paid leave, or unpaid leave, is a form
of reasonable accommodation when necessitated by an employee's
disability.(48) An employer does not have to provide paid leave beyond
that which is provided to similarly-situated employees. Employers
should allow an employee with a disability to exhaust accrued paid
leave first and then provide unpaid leave.(49) For example, if
employees get 10 days of paid leave, and an employee with a disability
needs 15 days of leave, the employer should allow the individual to
use 10 days of paid leave and 5 days of unpaid leave.

An employee with a disability may need leave for a number of reasons
related to the disability, including, but not limited to:

* obtaining medical treatment (e.g., surgery, psychotherapy,
substance abuse treatment, or dialysis); rehabilitation services; or
physical or occupational therapy;
* recuperating from an illness or an episodic manifestation of the
disability;
* obtaining repairs on a wheelchair, accessible van, or prosthetic device;
* avoiding temporary adverse conditions in the work environment
(for example, an air-conditioning breakdown causing unusually warm
temperatures that could seriously harm an employee with multiple
sclerosis);
* training a service animal (e.g., a guide dog); or
* receiving training in the use of braille or to learn sign language.

and...

Can an employer penalize an employee for work missed during leave
taken as a reasonable accommodation?

No. To do so would be retaliation for the employee's use of a
reasonable accommodation to which s/he is entitled under the law.(53)
Moreover, such punishment would make the leave an ineffective
accommodation, thus making an employer liable for failing to provide a
reasonable accommodation.(54)

*****

So I've written a letter to the EEOC to file a charge against my employer for discrimination. I plan on mailing it this week.

have a bad day because you screwed up a project at work? depressed about it? is that a clinical description of your emotion?

as to your mental state remember; a secret is one that is known by a single person. never, ever discuss potential for mental illness with co-workers since you give to others the knife that can be used to slit your own throat.

I provided a doctor's excuse for my absence which specifically states that I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and that it was the reason for my absence.

As to the privacy issue, you have a point. However, we are talking about a situation where the person divulged the information is not only a manager in the company, but the person in charge of human resources, who damn well knows that it's a no-no to divulge such information.