Advice please - HIPPA/Disability/Privacy issue:

[Anonymous Guy]

Jurisdiction

Texas

Advice please…

I need to respond to a state licensing and regulatory board regarding a complaint that was filed against myself and my professional license. In order to respond and defend myself, I will need to disclose a disability. It is essential that I disclose the disability in my response, as the complaint is based on a job-related hearing (under oath) during which I began to experience side effects of the disability that negatively affected my performance and ability.

Based on this "event", my at-will employment was terminated. I have since filed an EEOC-Americans with Disabilities claim, as my former employer was properly notified of the disability, and I was denied a reasonable accommodation request. That lack of accommodation contributed to experiencing the disability side affects, which then affected my performance during the event that the complaint is now based on.

My challenge is how to respond to the complaint, requesting confidentiality of my disability (in case of an open records request), how to word it so it doesn't sound like gobblygook, not only to protect my privacy regarding personal health information, but also so my former employer isn't given a heads-up that an EEOC investigation may be looming down the road.

Thanks in advance.

 

[army judge]

If you've filed a claim with the EEOC, your employer will be notified.

Your employer will also learn of your disability.

That cat you let out of the bag when you filed your allegations.

The employer requires that information in order to prepare their defense.

There's very little anyone on this site can do for you, other than to suggest you might want to engage the services of an attorney practicing in the area of labor law.

I wish you well.

 

[hrforme]

If you've already filed an EEOC claim, your employer will be notified. You don't generally get a choice on timing

 

[adjusterjack]

My challenge is how to respond to the complaint, requesting confidentiality of my disability

Why not call up that agency and ask them how to keep your disability confidential?

also so my former employer isn't given a heads-up that an EEOC investigation may be looming down the road.

There's no way your employer is not going to know about it.

HIPPA/Disability/Privacy issue:

There is no such thing as a HIPPA Disability/Privacy issue.

It's HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act.

This is a HIPPA:

Hippa - Wikipedia

 

[Anonymous Guy]

For clarification, I am in the early stages of the EEOC claim….I meet with EEOC next month, and if they choose to pursue the case that could happen months down the road or early next year, about the same time-frame the state has given me for the complaint to be decided and be available thru open records. Trying not to give the former employer a couple months head start.

But mainly, I want to inform the state I want them to redact any portion of the complaint that can legally be kept confidential. Is that not reasonable?

 

[cbg]

. I have since filed an EEOC-Americans with Disabilities claim,

If you have already filed a claim, then as part of the investigation your employer WILL be notified, by the EEOC, at the time of THEIR choosing. It is no longer up to you when your employer is notified of the claim.

 

[Tax Counsel]

My challenge is how to respond to the complaint, requesting confidentiality of my disability (in case of an open records request), how to word it so it doesn't sound like gobblygook, not only to protect my privacy regarding personal health information, but also so my former employer isn't given a heads-up that an EEOC investigation may be looming down the road.

You wish to hide the disability from whom, exactly? Surely not your employer. You've already told your employer of the disability. And, as you filed a claim with the EEOC, one of the first things the EEOC does is contact the employer to get its statement regarding the termination. So if you the goal was to delay the employer knowing about the EEOC complaint, that ship has already sailed.

Bear in mind that the EEOC mainly tries to get the parties to mediate and settle the claim. The EEOC takes very few cases to litigate itself. Usually the result of the EEOC process the result is that you get a right to sue letter. Regardless of whether the EEOC sues for your or you find your own attorney and sue, your disability will become part of the court records, and those court records are public information.

 

[adjusterjack]

But mainly, I want to inform the state I want them to redact any portion of the complaint that can legally be kept confidential. Is that not reasonable?

"Reasonable" is irrelevant.

You call up the state agency and ask them if they can keep your disability confidential. Don't ask us. We have no idea what the state agency will do about it. Wouldn't even hazard a guess.