Communicable Disease at Work
fnfbecky
3 Posts
I received an anonymous letter from a customer informing me that one of our managers was overheard telling another customer that she had tested positive for hepatitis. The manager works directly with customers by collecting money, making change, and serving drinks. Since the comment was overheard in a public place (our store), do I have the right to ask the employee is she hepatitis and if so, which one? Can I request that she provide me with documentation from her health care provider as to her disease status (active/inactive, type of hep virus, how contagious she is, how long will she be contagious)? If I can question her, what can I do if she refuses to provide documentation? I would really appreciate any insight into this. I have not contacted the employee or a legal attorney at this point. Thanks.
Becky
Becky
Comments
In my opinion, you do not have the right to ask her anything, nor should you. As my mom would say MYOB x:-)
Besides, if she was that sick and that contagious, I doubt she would be at work.
If you are in the food service industry you should be following guidelines that would deal with the spread of these diseases. Like washing hands, etc. Worry about those guidelines not the employee.
You do not have the right to ask her if she has hepatitis (unless there is a food service rule, I'm unaware of). You are begging for a lawsuit if you do. I would ask the manager if they did in fact make those comments and if she did, discipline her. Advise her in the future to keep her personal health information to herself.
Just for information, there are several different types of hepatitis and each one is spread in different ways.
Cannot start accusing or asking people if they have certain types of diseases or conditions, especially based on speculation.
Although not exactly apples to apples, I would consider it similar to a manager in a manufacturing environment telling a customer that they make faulty products.
I certainly agree that she should not inquire anything about her disease and even if she has it. Focus on the statement if she can prove it is true.
>Hepatitis is a bloodborne pathogen as is HIV.
>It's not transmitted by sneezing, coughing, etc.
> You're safe simply by using universal
>precautions.
Nope. Tell that to the Chi-Chi's and O'Charley's restaurant chain patrons who contracted it and died. I'm afraid different types of hep get a little bit more complicated than that.
I am very familar with Hep A since this is the one that directly threatens our industry. Instead of trying to type about it, here's some links of interest:
[url]http://www.about-hepatitis.com/articles/chichis/chichis.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.hepatitislitigation.com/[/url]
Gene
Becky
Four restaurants in the Boston area had employees with Hep A over this past summer. Customers were encouraged to get shots that the Health Dept provided if they ate there between certain dates.
When my mother was pregnant, we thought a relative, who certainly did not bleed on her, had hepatitis, and there were serious concerns about the baby.
Now to the anonymous note...if I overheard that kind of comment, I'd call the health dept, not send a note. That just seems to weird. Did this mystery writer identify the employee by name? If so, how would he/she know the name (maybe your employees wear name tags?)? And why on earth would someone announce to a perfect stranger that they have hepatitis? The whole thing sounds so shady to me. But considering the potential risk, if you have legal counsel, talk to them, thats what they're paid for.
Since our product is very temperature-sensitive and thus not taken to extreme temperatures that would kill these microorganisms (freezing or boiling) we have to be VERY careful about these situations.
Try recalling half a million pounds of finished produce items from just one day of production!
Gene