Termination due to HIPPA violation

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

A friend who works at a hospital was fired today. The reason she was given was that she violated HIPPA. She asked what she did wrong but the hospital would not tell her stating then they would be violating HIPPA. The hospital also asked her to sign a form that she had violated HIPPA which she refused. She refused to sign somethng saying she was guilty of something which she has no knowledge of doing.

Is this termination legal?

Yes, this termination is 100% legal.

And it's HIPAA, not HIPPA.

So she can be fired for something she is not even aware she did wrong? She didn't even want to know which account she supposedly violated, she wanted to know how she violated the HIPAA law. Is there not a due process for this?

taylor3297 said:

So she can be fired for something she is not even aware she did wrong? She didn't even want to know which account she supposedly violated, she wanted to know how she violated the HIPAA law. Is there not a due process for this?

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No.

Due process is reserved for criminal matters.

In the US in 49 of the 50 states a person can be fired at any time for any and no reason at all other than those prohibited by law (such as gender, race, ethnicity etc).

And the employer has no legal obligation to tell her what she did wrong.

Foolish? Maybe. Legal? Absolutely.

Thanks for the information. I will pass it on. She is so devasted about losing her job. This is the only "offense" she has had in the 18 years she has worked there.

One last question. Can she be denied uneployment benefits since she refused to sign the form the hospital wanted her to? The form pretty much stated she was agreeing that she was being fired for violating HIPAA. Again she didn't sign it because as far as she knows, she didn't violate HIPAA.

The hospital would need to make a credible case for misconduct to deny unemployment. I can't see how her refusal to sign whatever it is they wanted to her to sign would have any bearing on her eligibility.

People who work in health care are so trained on HIPAA, that if she had been paying proper attention, then she should darn well know exactly what she did that violated it. If not, she needs to read the law again, before attempting to get another job in health care.

If friend was part of a union, there may be recourse under her CBA. But as everyone else noted, the termination isn't illegal.

As a colleague of mine recently put it, she gets to tell her side of the story to the UI office and the employer (if they choose to contest, which they may or may not) tells their side. Then the ALJ gets to play American Idol and decides which song and dance routine he likes best.

In other words, no one here can say what will happen with UI.

cbg said:

Then the ALJ gets to play American Idol and decides which song and dance routine he likes best.

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I liked that one, too. I think we should use it more often. I don't think he'd mind.

The termination is legal.

She does need to file for unemployment benefits immediately.

The hospital said telling her what she did to violate HIPAA reg's would be a violation of HIPAA? Well, that's just plain stupid (and totally incorrect.) But as the others have said, her termination was legal, even if she didn't violate HIPAA.

P.S. It occurs to me that the hospital may well take the same stupid stance with the UC office; that is, that to tell the State what your friend did that got her fired would also be a violation of HIPAA. If that's true, then your friend has an excellent chance of receiving UC benefits. The State will not take the hospital's word that a violation occurred - they will want to know exactly what she did. If the hospital refuses to tell them, then your friend will receive benefits.