Missouri:
I was given a form to sign and return to my employer. I work for a large marketing firm in Missouri. There are around 500 employees in two separate offices. They passed out a packet of forms to everyone and told us all to sign them and hand them back in. I saw, right away, that there was one for release of medical information. This form is generic. If I sign it, it means they can contact any physician I have ever been to and obtain any medical record they choose, if not all. I found this to be very disturbing as I feel it has no bearing, whatsoever, on my job performance, nor is it any of their business.* However, knowing my employer and his firing track record (around 100 people per month) am pretty confident that by not signing the form, it will cause me to be fired for insubordination or something similar.
I contacted my own physician's office and they were very concerned about that form. The woman I spoke with told me not to sign it and that my employer had no rights to those kinds of records. She told me to contact the Human Resources Department of the company and ask why they wanted my medical records and what they were going to do with the information once they obtain it. I told her that this was the office where I would get in more trouble than with the office I actually work out of and they would surely alert my boss, here at this office where I work, and I would most likely be fired.
The biggest problem is that I do have disabilities and one of them has been caused by a fall on my employer's property. I have, yet, to file Worker's Comp, even though the fall happened in July of last summer for fear of being fired over it. I even went to an attorney for legal advise and he said I had a very good case for Worker's Comp as it was a stream of slimy water coming from a drain spout which caused me to slip and fall, which in turn injured both of my knees, which had been injured in previous car wrecks.* I now have neuropathy in both feet, due to this fall, and I never had that in my entire life before that fall. But if they go for all my chiropractic records, I am sure they are going to try and prove it was my past injuries that caused the neuropathy, not the fall on their property and of course, I am going to loose my job because of it.* At the time my attorney said I would have a clear case for "Unlawful Termination" but he doubted I would be able to find anyone to represent me as it would be very difficult to prove that it was the Worker's Comp claim that caused me to be fired. My employer can easily claim that I do not produce enough sales to be kept on as an employee.
I am between a rock and a hard place on this and I don't know where to turn. I have been told by a state agency that this paperwork sounds like it is in violation of the HIPPA laws. Is it? If so, what should I do?
In the mean time, we were all herded into a tiny room and ordered to sign the forms at once. I had to sign them or be fired, most likely. So now they can order any of my medical records at any time, I presume. Help!
I was given a form to sign and return to my employer. I work for a large marketing firm in Missouri. There are around 500 employees in two separate offices. They passed out a packet of forms to everyone and told us all to sign them and hand them back in. I saw, right away, that there was one for release of medical information. This form is generic. If I sign it, it means they can contact any physician I have ever been to and obtain any medical record they choose, if not all. I found this to be very disturbing as I feel it has no bearing, whatsoever, on my job performance, nor is it any of their business.* However, knowing my employer and his firing track record (around 100 people per month) am pretty confident that by not signing the form, it will cause me to be fired for insubordination or something similar.
I contacted my own physician's office and they were very concerned about that form. The woman I spoke with told me not to sign it and that my employer had no rights to those kinds of records. She told me to contact the Human Resources Department of the company and ask why they wanted my medical records and what they were going to do with the information once they obtain it. I told her that this was the office where I would get in more trouble than with the office I actually work out of and they would surely alert my boss, here at this office where I work, and I would most likely be fired.
The biggest problem is that I do have disabilities and one of them has been caused by a fall on my employer's property. I have, yet, to file Worker's Comp, even though the fall happened in July of last summer for fear of being fired over it. I even went to an attorney for legal advise and he said I had a very good case for Worker's Comp as it was a stream of slimy water coming from a drain spout which caused me to slip and fall, which in turn injured both of my knees, which had been injured in previous car wrecks.* I now have neuropathy in both feet, due to this fall, and I never had that in my entire life before that fall. But if they go for all my chiropractic records, I am sure they are going to try and prove it was my past injuries that caused the neuropathy, not the fall on their property and of course, I am going to loose my job because of it.* At the time my attorney said I would have a clear case for "Unlawful Termination" but he doubted I would be able to find anyone to represent me as it would be very difficult to prove that it was the Worker's Comp claim that caused me to be fired. My employer can easily claim that I do not produce enough sales to be kept on as an employee.
I am between a rock and a hard place on this and I don't know where to turn. I have been told by a state agency that this paperwork sounds like it is in violation of the HIPPA laws. Is it? If so, what should I do?
In the mean time, we were all herded into a tiny room and ordered to sign the forms at once. I had to sign them or be fired, most likely. So now they can order any of my medical records at any time, I presume. Help!