Can an employer ask you about a possible medical condition in front of other staff members?
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Can an employer ask you about a possible medical condition in front of other staff members?
If you were in to see the doctor for a stomach flu, can your employer time you while you are in the bathroom, and then in front of staff members ask you why you take so long to use the bathroom? Can it then proceed to ask if you have a medical problem that makes you go longer?
Asked on February 17, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
It is possible that an employer could do this. Under the law, an employer may not harass or discriminate against an employee because of a disability. However, most medical conditions--or things that are not even medical conditions, just how a person's own body acts--or not disabilities. If it's not a disability, such as a person simply needing to go to the bathroom more often than many others, an employer may ask about, bring it up in public, or otherwise harass an employee about it. Similarly, if you are a different gender than the others and the employer's comments are actually a form of sex-based harassment or discrimination, that would be illegal--but if there is no sex- or gender-based component, this would not apply. The short answer is, employers have a huge discretion to treat employees badly.
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