I have a question about breach of confidentiality with discipline records.
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I have a question about breach of confidentiality with discipline records.
I work in a group home and recently learned that a list of medication errors
made, complete with the full names of the employees who made them, had been
published and placed in the communications logs of all the other homes, available
for all employees to see. I consider this a breach of confidential employee
records, just as if they had published a written disciplinary warning for the
entire company to see. Am I correct that this is a breach of law? I have
respectfully asked my employer to discontinue the practice, but I want to be sure
that I have a leg to stand on should I need to press the issue.
Asked on February 4, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Minnesota
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
There is no law that requires that disciplainary records be kept confidential. So unless you have this protection under the terms of an employment contract or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that most work relationships are "at will", which means that a company can set the conditions of employment much as it sees fit, absent some form of legally actionable discrimination.
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