[Bird Feeder]

My boss told me and another person that he would never have anyone with depression work for him. I kept quiet about my depression. Now with the news of the German pilot I am afraid he will hound our Human resource person and find out that I am having ECT for suicidal depression. I go back to work right after having a treatment because I am afraid he will find out. He has alluded too getting rid of people for using the health insurance too much. I know that is against the law, but he is very smart and vindictive. I am probably the biggest user of our health insurance between my ECT and medication. I am feeling stressed because of all the hype about the employer not knowing about the pilots depression. Should an employer know/be able to find out, that you are being treated for depression?

[TimTheEnchanter]

Unless you are a pilot or a police person or some other who has life and death decisions to make daily or several times during the 8-hours, you have nothing to worry about. Fortunately there are laws in the US to protect us from discrimination or unlawful termination.

Originally Posted by Bird Feeder

My boss told me and another person that he would never have anyone with depression work for him. I kept quiet about my depression. Now with the news of the German pilot I am afraid he will hound our Human resource person and find out that I am having ECT for suicidal depression. I go back to work right after having a treatment because I am afraid he will find out. He has alluded too getting rid of people for using the health insurance too much. I know that is against the law, but he is very smart and vindictive. I am probably the biggest user of our health insurance between my ECT and medication. I am feeling stressed because of all the hype about the employer not knowing about the pilots depression. Should an employer know/be able to find out, that you are being treated for depression?

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Bird Feeder

My boss told me and another person that he would never have anyone with depression work for him. I kept quiet about my depression. Now with the news of the German pilot I am afraid he will hound our Human resource person and find out that I am having ECT for suicidal depression. I go back to work right after having a treatment because I am afraid he will find out. He has alluded too getting rid of people for using the health insurance too much. I know that is against the law, but he is very smart and vindictive. I am probably the biggest user of our health insurance between my ECT and medication. I am feeling stressed because of all the hype about the employer not knowing about the pilots depression. Should an employer know/be able to find out, that you are being treated for depression?

here in america employers can not hire or fire or otherwise harass anyone because of their race, gender, sexual orientation or mental or physical disability. employers can ask that you through periodic physical/psychiatric evaluations and drug testing,and then take the recommendation of a treatment provider.

as for the german pilot at this point everything that is on the internet is speculation. they have not released whether depression was in fact the reason behind that pilot purposely crashing the plane. according to CNN news they have not determined whether the pilots health physical or mental was an issue. the speculation is all based on the fact that the records show ...in the past...ears before he became a pilot he had suicidal problems.

I prefer not to make assumptions based on speculations built on rumors and past records...for example hypothetically ...what if i had a medication reaction to a vitamin that caused me to react strangely (yes vitamins can cause a person to have psychotic reactions and it has happened to someone I know) and end up harming others. and someone speculated on my past history of having DID (which I no longer have) they can come to the wrong conclusion that maybe an alter took over and killed these people out of anger. when in fact all it would be was a medication reaction that causes me to become psychotic.

at this point all thats going on is people are speculating and spreading rumors based on this pilots past history from before he was a pilot. sure there is going to be employers that are going to read /hear about the speculating rumors and form their own opinions and say they wont have the mentally ill working for them but the bottom line is here in america they cant prevent anyone with mental disorders from working with them. they can only hire and fire based on an employees job qualifications and performance otherwise they can end up in a lot of legal problems based on ADA laws.

[RisuNeko]

Lawyers cost a lot though. If you do get wrongfully terminated.

[Bird Feeder]

The boss likes me and unfortunately says things that I shouldn't be privy too, like "I'm looking for 0 increase in our hospitalization or I'll find out why". Well I'm going to be the reason why.....I'm having ECT every 2 weeks and take a lot of medication just to keep me alive. I wonder if it is worth it

[TimTheEnchanter]

If you have a real case, collect information (save emails etc) and use the US Labor Department website to complain. You do not need a lawyer, you'd get the case arbitrated anyway, by default. But if they fire you they better have a real good reason otherwise it is kaching...to you.

I'm sort of worried about this too. I don't have a job but am sending out resumes like crazy and hope to have one soon. I'm not ready to quit ECT yet and that keeps me at the hospital until 8 a.m., so depending on how far my place of work is from the hospital, I might not be able to get into work until 9 once every two weeks. Not sure how that would pan out, especially with a new job. I would hate to quit the ECT and then have my depression get much worse - - like it did when I cut the ECT down to once every three weeks.

My husband and I are on my husband's insurance right now, and he's a valued sales manager with a secure job so I don't think my heavy use of the insurance will impact his job.

[Rose76]

Originally Posted by Bird Feeder

Should an employer know/be able to find out, that you are being treated for depression?

I would say that the answer to that is "No." in this country, unless you are in a job that specifically tells you at the get-go that you must divulge all medical information to your employer. (Being a pilot is a special case.) It may even be illegal for your boss to be going around saying that he wouldn't employ someone with depression. Get yourself a little notebook and jot down what he said, and when he said it, and who was present. Keep records of things like that because you might be glad of having a journal of someone creating a hostile environment for persons with disabilities, which I do think might create a legal issue for him.

Based on my experience, I would advise you to tell nothing to anyone at work about your treatment for depression. It's none of their business. I guess, through your use of your health insurance, they can find out things and that can be shared inappropriately with people. (I know this because it happened to me.) But I think the law is getting firmer about protecting patients from that sort of thing. That's why I say to keep a record about statements that are inappropriate and that, obviously, have already made you feel threatened.

What counts is your job performance and that is that. But, if people get to knowing things that are not their business, they can start relating your medical history to any little problem that might crop at work. Let's face it . . . we all have problems from time to time. That's why I think it's very foolish to let anyone have ammunition to potentially use against you.

If your community has any kind of office of advisement for persons with disabilities, you might want to see if there is someone you could discuss this with. Just so that you will be forearmed, should something happen down the road, seeing as this boss of yours sounds like a butt-whole.

[guilloche]

Wow Bird Feeder, I'm so sorry, what an awful situation with your insensitive boss! That's terrible.

He shouldn't be able to find out what kind of treatment you're receiving, and he absolutely shouldn't be allowed to fire you for it, but I hear you on how hard that can be to prove...

The things he's saying would make me very, very uncomfortable. How is your HR department? How big is the company? Do you think you'd feel comfortable talking to someone from HR, and mentioning that he's making statements that could really make things uncomfortable for people suffering from a medical condition (depression, or anything, it sounds like?) He's acting badly for the company, I think, and possibly putting them in danger (since if somebody sued, I assume they'd sue the whole company).

A really good site that sometimes talks about this is Ask a Manager - the woman who blogs there is really smart, and not afraid to talk to experts (lawyers, for example) for more info when she's not sure about something. This sounds like something she may have addressed (or something similar), so you may want to check that out and see if there's anything relevant.

Again, I'm so sorry. It's hard enough to deal with depression, you shouldn't have to deal with your boss being an idiot on top of that!

[Seeker101]

If I could jump in here.... Absolutely keep a journal of what your boss says and does. You'll be very happy you had it if it comes to something legal.

Secondly, and I speak from personal experience, do not go to HR. They work for the company, despite how employee-centered and warm and fuzzy they may appear to be, and it is their job to keep the company safe from lawsuits, etc...

Try calling some pro bono law firms. Every state has a few that offer pro bono services. Ask for a meeting and lay out what's going on and what you could do to protect yourself. From what I understand, under the ADA, in order for you to be protected under the law, you do have to disclose a disability to your employer. And if they take adverse or retaliatory action after that, then baby, do you ever have a lawsuit!

It's the definition of disclosure I don't know about. Is it enough to say you have a medical disability, or do you have to name it? That's something a lawyer would know.

The fact that this boss of yours has already said "no one with depression" is a setup for disaster. That's just as bad as saying "no one who's a Democrat," for example. No discrimination based on religious, national origin, political affiliation, gender, age, or disability status. (I may have missed a few.)

[Bird Feeder]

Since I do have some child abuse in my background this boss is bringing up all those bad feelings again. My therapist would like me to find another job but I am older with no real job skills.....at least I think I don't.

Thank you for all of your great responses. No one knows that I am having ECT except my immediate supervisor, who is super understanding and has the same feelings I do about our boss. I don't think I will share it with anybody else.

[Rose76]

Seeker, above, makes some excellent points. I do have a different understanding of one aspect. Under the ADA, you only have to disclose a medical condition, IF you are requesting an "accomodation" to be able to perform your job. You don't indicate asking for any special accomodation, in which case you do NOT have to disclose anything. An advisor at the state office of Voc. Rehab. in my town advised against making any unnecessary disclosures.

[Bird Feeder]

I have no intention of asking for any accommodation and I don't plan on telling anyone. I am back to work by 9 after each treatment. I wish I could explain to our boss how someone he seems to like can be one thing outwardly and feel something else on the inside. He needs an education but I am not going to be the one to give it to him.

[Fuzzybear]

[pinkflower17]

I don't know much about the laws regarding this, but as far as finding a cheap or free attorney goes, try a law school. Any decent sized one will have some kind of clinic. You'll get a third year student who's being supervised by someone with a lot of experience and it's usually free or very low cost and you end up with pretty decent representation because the students are out to prove something so they put a lot of effort into things and the supervising attorney has usually seen a lot.
Good luck. I would agree with whoever said not to disclose (unless it ends up being necessary) and if you do so, keep it to a minimum required by law and to the minimum number of people possible.
And do keep a journal recording all these events. You'll need it if you ever end up in some kind of law suit situation. Also make sure you keep records of reviews, notes of praise etc in case they try to use your actual contributions as grounds for dismissal.
And this is probably why you need to speak to an attorney before you disclose anything, but for example the state I live in is an at will state and either party can terminate employment for any reason at any time or without giving a reason. An attorney would know the laws in your state and be able to advise you on proper disclosure.

[Rose76]

I live in an "at will" employment state. That status doesn't quite play out the way that employers fantasize it should. They face limits on what they can get away with.Wrongful Termination of At Will Employment

[bigblackdog]

So you are protected by HIPPA, since HR is aware of your issues, they are bound by HIPPA.....

I would document what I heard him say, date and time. All of that is damning. If he puts something in writing, keep that too.....even more damning.

Push comes to shove, you may have an unlawful termination, TitleIX, ADA, HIPPA and FMLA violation lawsuit.

[Bluesday]

Originally Posted by amandalouise

here in america employers can not hire or fire or otherwise harass anyone because of their race, gender, sexual orientation or mental or physical disability.

Right. That's why they put you on PIP for any reason under the sun and eventually push you out. Plus many if not most states, they don't even NEED a reason to fire you. Sure, it's wrong but it happens.