Disability Discrimination Found with Regard to Disclosure of Medical Information.
Complainant, a Mail Handler, filed a formal EEO complaint alleging, among other things, that the Agency discriminated against him when his Supervisor released or disclosed his medical information. On appeal, the Commission found that the Agency violated the Rehabilitation Act when it released Complainant’s confidential medical information. Complainant claimed that a psychiatrist who was treating him told his Supervisor that Complainant had threatened to kill one of his co-workers (Co-worker 1). Sometime later, another co-worker (Co-worker 2) asked the Supervisor why Complainant had been absent from work. The Supervisor told Co-worker 2 that Complainant was being treated by a psychiatrist who had diagnosed Complainant as “very nervous.” The Supervisor also repeated what the psychiatrist had said about Complainant threatening Co-worker 1’s life. Complainant stated that the information about his medical condition was then disseminated widely among Agency employees. The Commission found that the Supervisor’s disclosure to Co-worker 2 violated the Rehabilitation Act’s confidentiality provisions. The fact that Complainant was undergoing treatment by a psychiatrist and had been diagnosed with a nervous condition was medical information which the Agency was obliged to keep confidential, and Co-worker 2 had no need for the medical information. The Agency was ordered, among other things, to investigate Complainant’s claim for damages, and provide EEO training to all officials responsible for improperly releasing Complainant’s medical information. Cruz v. U.S. Postal Serv., EEOC Appeal No. 0120101339 (July 21, 2011).
