Employer wants private medical information from routine Dr visit

i have a buddy who called out sick, he doesn’t do this offten. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Mostly because of his kids, not himself.

Last year he called out, told them he didn’t feel well. The next day they sent him to the company doctor for a “return to work” visit.

The work doctor asked what happened, he said he had a 24hr bug & called out sick. Work Dr said well you seem fine to me....good to go.

 

Years ago carriers were more active when it come to requiring those "return to work" doctor visits. Back in the early 80s my father had to be took to a hospital via ambulance because an ulcer caused him to lose too much blood. He was out of work for almost 3 weeks and the company had to send another driver there. His carrier called him and told him he was going to need a new card before he returned to work. They gave him a dispatch and told him to come to Duncan early to get the card. In my father's case it was cut and dry, however be forewarned!! A carrier is NOT bound to accept a medical card. They can demand a driver do it again. This is why I made that comment I made in post #68.

 

And the company is free to terminate you after you explain HIPAA, since you are likely in an At-Will working situation. They aren't required to tell you why or they can use any reason to terminate you, just as you are able to quit for ANY reason, your left ear is bigger than your right ear.

 

I never left work to go to a doctor appt nor gave them any reason to terminate me.
And after five years OTR my driving and safety record are squeaky clean

No problems here

 

Just read post 68. Your 100% correct, the carrier is required to make sure you are medically fit for duty. And drivers are 100% right in protecting their privacy & medical history.

I agree with you Moose, i also agree as drivers we should fight it.

The reason i left the Flower company i worked so long for & had my truck leased up with was all over the doctor. In my opinion & the bosses opinion he was being unrealistically demanding. HR would not budge, i could only drive under their banner with his ok. They would not accept my doctors medical card and or all the return to works i had from my family Dr & the specialist.

In the end i had to work, me and the boss man shook hands and parted ways with no hard feelings on either side. In fact now that i have my own rights we still work together. I still pull his trailers. Lol.

But that was the company’s decision & my stance, imo neither of us were wrong.

 

Thank you for the comments. I think sometimes people want to use wishful thinking and try to push that as a fact. This gets a bit bothersome when it comes to bureaucrats and their dang regs. At it's heart the entire Federal DOT is a bureau and title 49 is their playground. One group over here proposes new regs for the federal register while a still other group is adding theirs. Then they have to account for all the comment made during the comment period. In the end so much is left as a grey area. There are at least 6 examples in title 49 where the regs actually are in conflict. @Ridgeline nailed it though with his comment about this medical privacy law and the FMCSA safety mandates being in conflict and at some point there is going to be court action.

I used the example of taking a blonde to a motel 6 and getting a STD. Carriers don't care or have the right to know this. You have had a run in with head lice. Got treated and it's gone. Again not any of a carriers business. However what about your 16 year old daughter just got killed and you are taking a Benzo. Still taking them as you come back to work. Does a carrier have the right to know? I think the best solution to this is HIPPA should NOT cover ANY medication prescribed that can cause an unfitness to drive. With a specific drug type listed in the FMCSA regs. The FMCSA would put a boilerplate form for this use and directly contact the drivers private physician for these medications if any, ONLY! Outside of this I think HIPPA is fine and the exception with regard to a DOT ME doing that exam should have clear guidance and not be told by the FMCSA that it is a grey area.

 

Companies in At-Will Employment states don't need any reason to terminate an employee. And/or they can use the color of your eyes, size of your shoes, or what they think you watched on TV last week as the reason to terminate you. They have the same right to fire you as you have to quit for any reason. About the only reasons they can't use to terminate you is that you belong to a protected minority group. If you were one of those people they could fire you for improper use of punctuation (no reason).

 

Glad they pulled their heads out of their #####.

Good luck to ya!

Shame ya had to through all that just for a routine doc visit.

Sirscrapntruckalot - Vote for tacos. Make dinner great again, America.

 

Werner told me they needed my medical records when I applied. I did have a release note before even getting my CDL. I told them to kick rocks. It is super illegal to ask for medical records.