Is it illegal for one employee to discuss anothers personal info with other

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momo

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employees without thier permision? I work in a medical clinic and over the past week had some terrible personal health issues come my way with my husband...to make a long story short, we ended up in the ER over the weekend and i had called the head MA at my job to let her know what was going on and tell her that i wouldn't be able to come in Sat to work. In my returning to work i discovered that she had told one of the other workers here in my office about my husbands health problems without my permission...My question is, is she in any privacy law violation and if so would i have a case against her that would hold up in court? Thanks in advance for any info
 
I don't think so. You told her and she blabbed. It's not really a HIPAA violation because she is not your health care provider and you didn't _have_ to tell her.
 
She's wrong to talk about another's personal and medical situation. I understand there are legal guidelines regarding the matter, at least in California. You would be wise to find your grounds.
 
Gossip is not against the law.

You started the ball rolling by telling your employer why you were not coming to work. You chose to divulge that information and I would assume that you did not ask your boss to keep the information confidential.

Your privacy was not violated. Arguably, you violated your husband's privacy by disclosing this information to a third person.

Employers are not required to keep the reason an employee called in confidential. You had no right to or legitimate expectation of privacy in this situation. If you had wanted it kept confidential you should have told her that you would appreciate this courtesy. She did not need your permission to pass this information along. That you work in a medical clinic is completely irrelevant. Your husband was not a patient at this medical clinic and YOU divulged the information under conditions that would not fall under the umbrella of a privileged communication.

You have absolutely no basis for a lawsuit. You do have the right to schedule a private meeting with this employer and explain to her in a calm and professional manner that, while you know you didn't expressly ask her to keep the information confidential, you were really expecting that she would do this and were hurt and disappointed when you returned to work and found out that she had discussed this with another co-worker.
 
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