If my manager went behind my back and contacted my doctor, does this violate the HIPAA law?

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If my manager went behind my back and contacted my doctor, does this violate the HIPAA law?

No information was given out by my doctor that my manager did not already know. I did not give my manager permission to contact my doctor or for my doctor to talk to my manager.

Asked on April 10, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Alabama

Answers:

MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

Did your physician talk to the manager? If so, and it was strictly based on clarification of something written and given by the physician to you to give your employer (say for disability, workers' compensation, time off or Family Medical Leave Act purposes), then it may not be a HIPAA violation if it was simply to clarify a coding or explanation so the record is correct. However, if your physician spoke to your manager at length about your condition and this is not an issue conerning modified work for example (seeking help with human resources on how to accomodate your injury for example), then you probably have a case against your physician and one against your manager. The one against your physician would arguabily be for either or both HIPAA violations and privacy violations and the against your manager could involve a host of violations or charges (violation of privacy, harassment, creating a hostile work environment).


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