Disability discrimination

[Ilglsp1]

Is my supervisor allowed to ask me if I have a disability?

 

[cbg]

I'd like a little context before I answer that. Is this pre-hire or post-hire, and what were the circumstances under which you were asked?

 

[Ilglsp1]

I'd like a little context before I answer that. Is this pre-hire or post-hire, and what were the circumstances under which you were asked?

I am post hire been there 3 months. I just want to know if the person can legally ask me if I have a disability.

 

[cbg]

Yes. There are circumstances in which a person, even your supervisor, can legally ask if you have a disability.

Now, if you want to know whether it was legal in YOUR case, you're going to have to give me more to go on.

 

[Just Blue]

I am post hire been there 3 months. I just want to know if the person can legally ask me if I have a disability.

What U.S. State are you in?

 

[Ilglsp1]

We have telephones and headsets that connect to those phones. I prefer to use the telephone and not the headset because I can hear better from the telephone. She asked if I have a disability because I don't use the headset.

 

[cbg]

That was legal.

 

[dwidell]

No. You are not required to tell your employer if you have a disablity. By law they can not ask as it violates hippa. I know because I am disabled and by law I do not have to tell my employer. I only told them because I kept getting harassed by another coworker.

 

[Zigner]

No. You are not required to tell your employer if you have a disablity. By law they can not ask as it violates hippa. I know because I am disabled and by law I do not have to tell my employer. I only told them because I kept getting harassed by another coworker.

Please post a citation to back up your assertion that HIPAA (not HIPPA) would be violated if an employer asks about a disability.

 

[eerelations]

No. You are not required to tell your employer if you have a disablity. By law they can not ask as it violates hippa. I know because I am disabled and by law I do not have to tell my employer. I only told them because I kept getting harassed by another coworker.

It does not violate HIPAA. In addition, there are no laws in the US that prohibit employers from asking about disabilities as a job requirement. And finally, you've been told several times that telling your employer about your disability does not protect you from what so far appears to be legal harassment. While I sympathize with you for having a disability, the fact that you have one doesn't mean that you automatically possess more knowledge about this area of employment law as this site's volunteer legal experts do.

 

[cbg]

PRIOR to hire, an employer cannot ask about a disability except to ask if the employee is able to do the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.; AFTER hire there is no such limitation.

While it is true that an employee does not have to tell their employer about a disability, they do not have any protection under the law if they do not.

 

[Taxing Matters]

No. You are not required to tell your employer if you have a disablity.

True. A disabled person is never required to tell his/her employer about a disability he or she has. But the employer does not have any obligation to provide you any accommodation if you do not tell the employer that you have a disability and you ask for the accommodation.

By law they can not ask as it violates hippa.

It does not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The part of HIPAA that governs privacy of protected health information (PHI) only prohibits a covered entity (which means most medical care providers and medical insurance companies) from disclosing your disability or any other PHI without your consent except in certain limited circumstances. Most employers are not covered entities and not subject to HIPAA in the first place. Nor does the law prohibit anyone from asking for medical information from the patient himself. Again, all it does is prevent the covered entities from actually disclosing your PHI.

There are rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that regulate when an employer may ask about a disability, however.

While it is true that an employee does not have to tell their employer about a disability, they do not have any protection under the law if they do not.

I disagree with that slightly. There is still some protection for the employee. The employer cannot discriminate against the employee on account of the disability should the employer somehow learn of it even though the employee did not disclose it. Also, the employer cannot discriminate against the employee because of a perceived disability that the employer thinks the employee might have.

 

[cbg]

Point taken. However, I still maintain that dwidell is painting with FAR too broad a stroke.