Or, a pharmacy. They aren’t permitted to leave anything on voicemail.
I had a “similar but different” type of situation happen to me. I drove a truck hauling heavy equipment for a living. When I found out I was going to have to go on shots, I informed my boss and told him that I could no longer pass a DOT physical and would no longer be able to drive a truck. I asked at that time if I could be transferred into the shop as a mechanic, since I knew how to do that too. They asked the “Shop Director” about this possibility and hos reply was, “No, I don’t want him if he isn’t 100%”. Everyone at my place of employment wanted me to move into the shop, except for this butthead from an office 300 miles away. So I went on disability and carried on with my life. Several months later, a foreman in the shop broke his back while not at work and is now paralyzed from the chest down, confined to a motorized wheel chair. When the Dr said that he was back to as good of health as he could expect, they gave him a job in another department.
I spoke to an attorney about this and have since filed suit against not only the company but the supervisor in question.
sounds like defamation or something else that maybe an attorney should get involved…maybe some $$$$ here?
The practice of only verifying employment is a wimpy practice we could do with a lot fewer lawyers. I worked for a large company that refused to allow its managers to give a referral. You are right we were to refer the request to personnel or HR and they could comfirm dates of employment. I saw many many times where good employees were denied a referral in thjeir quest for a job. The lawyers was afraid that if we sometimes gave referrals (good employees) and refused referrals (bad employees) then a bad employee could sue for lack of a referral, What a twisted web we allow the legal profession to weave, We need common sense in law. I am not advocating disclosure of protected information. I am very opposed to a policy where the employer will not allow former co-workers and former managers to tell a future employer that an individual was a good, fair or poor employee. This same employer would expect references when it was hiring so go figure. My response to an employer’s request for a referral was yes, Mary worked for me from Mar 05 to Aug 09. We had to let her go because of a large budget cut. We did not want to let her go. I am not allowed to give a referral by corporate legal staff but if I could it would be a glowing report! Our repuration is all we have to market ourselves and to deny an individual their reputation is plain wrong!! I guess you can tell that I don’t much like lawyers.
Good luck with your suit!!
Question for all. What if the diabetes influenced the employee’s behavior at work, Lets say that the employee regularly got moody due to poorly controlled diabetes and would get defensive in meetings and disruptive to team dynamics. So if the old employer indicated the behavior but said it really was not her faulty - she had a problem controlling her blood sugars and since has been much better.?? And if she did not get better would mentioning that as a behavioral problem be ok; would it be legal?
But having a disability or medical condition that affects job performance does not shield an employee from discipline. If the employees condition prevents them from doing their job despite reasonable accommodations by the employer, the ADA is not going to protect them.
I wouldn’t sue…what good would that do? The harm’s already done. You did right in sending him a reproachful personal email, but if you knew him well, and as you say, you had a nice working relationship at your old work place…why don’t you meet over coffee in a public place, and talk about it?
I haven’t encountered that…to my knowledge. It has been shared info at school with some teachers…but I’m fine with that…in fact it’s what I had hoped for…but that’s far from the same thing. Yours was indeed an invasion of privacy. He may have thought he was being helpfull?? But he certainly crossed the line!!
Congratulations on your new position 
I would contact the EEOC and see if there is any law protecting employee’s personal medical information. Luckily, the new boss did not discriminate against you, but that does not mean the information wasn’t given to influence his decision. If the old boss offered the information without the new boss requesting it, one has to question his motivation. If the new boss asked, then both were in the wrong. Since Type 1 is both genetically and environmentally linked, it could possibly be a violation of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. According to their website “GINA prohibits discrimination against applicants, employees, and former employees on the basis of genetic information. This includes a prohibition on the use of genetic information in all employment decisions; restrictions on the ability of employers and other covered entities to request or to acquire genetic information, with limited exceptions; and a requirement to maintain the confidentiality of any genetic information acquired, with limited exceptions.”
No one in my family has Type 1 either, but I carry genes that make it more likely to develop Type 1. Having these genes does not mean a person will develop diabetes. Many Type 1s do not have relatives with Type 1 but have genes that made them more susceptible. Type 1 is not purely genetic though. Something else triggers those genes to cause them to act differently. Researchers are still trying to figure out what factors can trigger them- viruses, diet, childhood illnesses, vaccines, environmental pollution, etc.
This is me not trying to start an argument
Probably only the old boss, unless there is some evidence that the new boss asked about health problems.
As for what, see here and check if it supplies a sufficient reason for even seeing a lawyer:
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/know-your-rights/discr…
Maybe my point of view is slightly different as I still don’t know, what past employer said to present employer …my question on April 15 has not been responded to by poster Emily F
Lynne, my thinking is : there are usually 2 sides to the story which in my mind : the other side is missing …Managers can/should always check in with HR !
I agree, I want to see the best for Emily .
Rusty - You may be interested in this: Thanks to advances in law and medicine, there are no longer many jobs that are off-limits to people with diabetes. Commercial drivers who treat their diabetes with insulin are now able to obtain Department of Transportation medical certification through a diabetes exemption program. I found this on an ADA site posted by another member here. So you should be able to roll up your sleeves and return to work - I don’t think they could deny you if you have the sertificate. There are links here ;ADA Discrimination Guidelines
Well it is cowardly and wimpy - why not let managers write reviews and have them checked by HR before sending them out. The absence of a referral is a denial of years of hard effort on the part of an individual. These policies do more to help poor employees than good employees. I am all for what helps competent people not incompetent people.
As well as commercial air pilots!!!
In most economies, but particularly the current state of affairs, I don’t think that having managers and HR people working on reviews for outgoing employees adds a lot of value to an organization? You don’t want your good people angling to leave and you don’t want to incur the legal expense to pay someone a few $$ for their claim so you just don’t say anything? Perhaps it sucks for good employees to be deprived of the possibility to add a good review to their marketing package but, if you are “good”, you would likely not really need a review to distinguish yourself from the competition anyway?