Employer divulged personal medical information to unemployment

[Tamaramandalynn]

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

 

[Zigner]

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

Please respond without using the "preview" function.

With that said...there is nothing inherently against the law for an employer to "divulge" your medical information to unemployment.

 

[cbg]

Well...that would depend on how the employer obtained the "personal medical information". And to a certain degree who the employer was.

 

[Zigner]

Well...that would depend on how the employer obtained the "personal medical information". And to a certain degree who the employer was.

Yes, that's why I couched my statement

 

[cbg]

Gotcha.

(10 character limit)

 

[commentator]

Two very interesting issues rise here. In the first place, in order to be approved for unemployment benefits, you must be fully able, available and actively seeking work. If you weren't planning on mentioning your medical issues to the unemployment system, you may have been about to commit unemployment fraud.

Secondly, the unemployment system is a closed, agency system in which information about the reason for termination is requested from each of the two parties involved, but this information is NOT public record, and does not go outside the hearings and decisions of the agency (except in the very rarest of exceptional situations.)

The employer has paid in taxes on your employment with them, this tax rate is raised if you are approved to draw benefits, and therefore it is to their advantage to try to show they had a valid, work related misconduct reason to terminate you. If discussing health issues does this, or helps to explain their rationale for termination, they are perfectly within their rights to provide this information to the agency.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Two very interesting issues rise here. In the first place, in order to be approved for unemployment benefits, you must be fully able, available and actively seeking work. If you weren't planning on mentioning your medical issues to the unemployment system, you may have been about to commit unemployment fraud.

Secondly, the unemployment system is a closed, agency system in which information about the reason for termination is requested from each of the two parties involved, but this information is NOT public record, and does not go outside the hearings and decisions of the agency (except in the very rarest of exceptional situations.)

The employer has paid in taxes on your employment with them, this tax rate is raised if you are approved to draw benefits, and therefore it is to their advantage to try to show they had a valid, work related misconduct reason to terminate you. If discussing health issues does this, or helps to explain their rationale for termination, they are perfectly within their rights to provide this information to the agency.

It would only be unemployment fraud if the medical condition(s) affect OP's employability.

There are a variety of medical conditions that, depending on their severity and the occupation, would not preclude a person from working.

However, since OP's employer is an employer and not OP's health care provider, I do not see how OP's privacy was violated. Furthermore, unless what was said by the employer about OP's medical issues were false AND affected the unemployment claim adversely, there's no damages OP can claim to have occurred. (Note the word "AND"!)

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

It would only be unemployment fraud if the medical condition(s) affect OP's employability.

Which we will likely never know because the OP hasn't been back since the OP.

 

[FlyingRon]

Further, there's no obligation in most cases for the employer not to divulge such information, in fact, they may be obliged to.