I recently got a new job as an ER tech at a local hospital. As part of the hiring process I need complete a pre employment health assessments. I did not tell them about my diabetes but they are going to go through all my medications and will inevitably find out I have diabetes, especially since I have my pump on all the time.
Can they resend the job offer if they find out I have diabetes? I have heard mixed responses about working in the hospital. Some people say that type one diabetics aren’t capable of working in the hospital and its a liability which I don’t agree with. And then other people say we can work anywhere. Just wondering if its legal for them to resend their offer? And how much do I have to disclose? I rarely have low bg but info have hypo unawareness sometimes- but only in certain situations and never work related.
Well, I can't tell you specifics, but in general it is illegal to discriminate against you in the workplace because of you diabetes. Here is an EEOC action against a hospital nurse that was fired unfairly. And here is the experience of someone else who went through hiring for a hospital job.
My approach would be to comply with all the requests and disclose what they ask. If they rescind your job offer, it is the hospital that has to "prove" that they didn't discriminate.
It is absolutely illegal to rescind a job offer based on a health problem. Diabetes is covered under the American Disabilities Act. If you tell them that it will not affect your work, they are NOT allowed to refuse you.
Alternatively, if they do complain, you can get a note from your endo that you can do the job and it will not be a hazard. At that point, you should also threaten them with a lawyer, because YES, it is illegal.
Congratulations on your new job! If you already have the job then they can't rescind the offer, they would have to fire you. I have no idea what is legal, I do know that any place has the right to fire and depending on your state (laws vary), they may be able to let you go without reason.
There is no reason a T1 can't work in a hospital and if it were a liability issue they would figure a way to put that question on the job requirement in the first place. You have to disclose what is asked on the application. A hospital usually sends you for a physical...so yes they will find out you are diabetic. Guess what, there a LOTS of diabetics working at the hospital.
I think that if they've made the offer, you would have a cause of action against them if they rescind it however this may depend on the manner in which the offer was made, "congratulations, you're hired, come get a physical!" vs. "we find you to be a qualified candidate, the next step is to do a physical" and the language is probably important. I suspect that if it's well-controlled, you should be ok. They are probably making sure you're not a drug fiend or something like that more than D.
I think you're more at risk of losing the job because you aren't being truthful on the pre-employment health assessment after you've received the job offer than you are for having Type 1. I would try to find someone who knows employment law in your state and check. It may be better to amend the form than to just let them find out.
What do you mean you did not tell them you have diabetes? Was this during an interview process? During an interview process you are not really required to disclose that information. I have worked as a type 1 diabetic in a hospital setting, it does not as long as you take precautions make you a liability, and those same precautions would apply to any job. Test frequently, make sure to carry some form of fast acting glucose with you, etc. Usually with a pre-employment health physical they are looking more for communicable health problems like hepatitis, TB, etc. I would not try to "hide" the information on that, but I do not believe it should put you at risk of having a job offer rescended either.
Good luck, it should all work fine with some reasonable accommodations.
My concern is that you did not disclose your condition in the health assessments. That non-disclosure if specifically asked for in the medical assessment, would be a problem. It is like saying you have a degree when you don't. The employer finds that out, you are legitimately fired, and discrimination is not the cause. The lack of true disclosure is the issue that will be focused upon.
I agree with spock, your post is making it a little unclear to me when exactly you did not disclose you had diabetes. As I stated above if it was during an interview process I wouldn't be concerned, it is not something that necessarily has to be disclosed during an interview, BUT as spock stated IF you didn't disclose it on the health assessment that may be another issue altogether, and technically COULD result in a termination of employment for failure to disclose information, and I don't think in that case it would be discriminatory, it would be more along the lines of lack of fully disclosing all information.
Please clarify your post regarding when exactly you did not disclose this information. Good luck, I hope this works out for you.
I did not volunteer it in the interview. I would absolutely disclose it during the health assessment. I just wanted to know if they could legally fire me
I think you are fine as long as you disclose it during the health assessment part. You are not obligated to disclose health information in an interview. Now if you had not disclosed it on the assessment and it came out, that would be an entirely different matter, as technically they could get you on a failure to disclose information, and that would not be discrimination, but as long as you are honest on the health assessment I do not see this as a problem at all. Most generally the health assessments as I stated above are looking for communicalbe health problems like TB and hepatitis. Also they do a drug testing. They may look at your health history to see as with the diabetes if any accomodiation may need to be made, and once you start your unit manager may have a discussion with you regarding what accomidation you will need.
