ADA / Workers Comp
bpef
1 Post
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-11-04 AT 01:42PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I have an employee who has been with the Company less than 90 days who was hired as a shipping clerk / back up delivery person.
2 weeks ago this person came in my office stated that he would like to tell me something that he wanted me to keep confidential - after stating this he began to tell me that he has MS. He told me some of the symptoms he could suffer due to this disease, which included fainting, dizziness, temporary blindness, fatigue & weakness, etc.
After telling me this I let the employee know that I represent the Company and in lieu of his request for confidentiality it will be necessary for me to investigate and find out the liability involved now that I know that he has MS. I know that allowing him to drive a company vehicle could turn into something big if this person ever experienced a fainting spell while driving, not to mention the liability of him performing the strenuous tasks involved in his daily work within the shipping department.
I had a family emergency and was out the office for 8 days and returned this week to find out this person while wrapping a skid full of boxes stood up and turned and walked straight into a floor fan and bumped the side of his head. This happened on a Thursday afternoon. The person sat down for a while, said he was a little dizzy but refused any medical attention. There were no visual marks on this persons face. The person worked Friday and returned to work on Monday. Shortly after arriving Monday he complained that he has suffered from a severe headache ever since he ran into the fan. The Plant Manager showed him the panel list of Workman's Comp doctors and the employee called and got right into to the doctor. The employee did not disclose to the doctor that he had MS. The doctor based on his claim of a bad headache and blindness in one of his eyes ordered a CAT SCAN and sent the employee to an Optomologist. Both doctors examined the CAT Scan and other test and determined there was nothing wrong with the employee. He was released to return back to work with 1 restriction which was no lifting over 20 pounds. The employee came to work with this doctor’s notice and presented it to the Plant Manager. The employee's job requires that he lift up to 80 pounds throughout the day so the Plant Manager did not allow the employee to return to work until he is released back to full duty. The next day the employee called in and said that he had gone to the emergency room during the night because of his headache. The emergency room doctor (not knowing that this employee just had a CAT SCAN done just days ago) called what he thought was the doctor already seeing this person, (confusion on the employee's part as to the medical practice name) and the doctor they called not knowing anything about this person ordered the patient to schedule an out patient MRI and call his office and make an appointment after this is done for an evaluation.
I returned to work to be told this so I called the emergency room and found out what doctor they called and then called them to let them know a Panel doctor was already treating this person. Our Workman's Comp Insurance Company was also informed about this. They in turn let the employee know that he must go back to the original treating panel doctor.
The employee told the insurance company rep that he has MS. The insurance company is now requesting that this person sign a Medical Release form and provide his MS treating physicians name and number so they can further evaluate this person’s claim. The employee refused to sign. He hired an attorney and the attorney has contacted the insurance company.
Now to my question....how should I handle this person? Is it reasonable for me to put him on a non-specified medical restricted lay-off, until the Company can determine our liability in letting him perform knowing that he could suffer from the above mentioned side effects from his claimed MS disease? (ADA – can we accommodate the disabled person) Also I do not have anything from a doctor stating that this person does in fact suffer from MS.
I'm aware that Retaliation is a notorious claim for cases like this....however, the employee did not disclose upon hiring him that he may not be able to perform some or many of the jobs tasks that he was hired for because of his disease. I'm not sure how to proceed.
2 weeks ago this person came in my office stated that he would like to tell me something that he wanted me to keep confidential - after stating this he began to tell me that he has MS. He told me some of the symptoms he could suffer due to this disease, which included fainting, dizziness, temporary blindness, fatigue & weakness, etc.
After telling me this I let the employee know that I represent the Company and in lieu of his request for confidentiality it will be necessary for me to investigate and find out the liability involved now that I know that he has MS. I know that allowing him to drive a company vehicle could turn into something big if this person ever experienced a fainting spell while driving, not to mention the liability of him performing the strenuous tasks involved in his daily work within the shipping department.
I had a family emergency and was out the office for 8 days and returned this week to find out this person while wrapping a skid full of boxes stood up and turned and walked straight into a floor fan and bumped the side of his head. This happened on a Thursday afternoon. The person sat down for a while, said he was a little dizzy but refused any medical attention. There were no visual marks on this persons face. The person worked Friday and returned to work on Monday. Shortly after arriving Monday he complained that he has suffered from a severe headache ever since he ran into the fan. The Plant Manager showed him the panel list of Workman's Comp doctors and the employee called and got right into to the doctor. The employee did not disclose to the doctor that he had MS. The doctor based on his claim of a bad headache and blindness in one of his eyes ordered a CAT SCAN and sent the employee to an Optomologist. Both doctors examined the CAT Scan and other test and determined there was nothing wrong with the employee. He was released to return back to work with 1 restriction which was no lifting over 20 pounds. The employee came to work with this doctor’s notice and presented it to the Plant Manager. The employee's job requires that he lift up to 80 pounds throughout the day so the Plant Manager did not allow the employee to return to work until he is released back to full duty. The next day the employee called in and said that he had gone to the emergency room during the night because of his headache. The emergency room doctor (not knowing that this employee just had a CAT SCAN done just days ago) called what he thought was the doctor already seeing this person, (confusion on the employee's part as to the medical practice name) and the doctor they called not knowing anything about this person ordered the patient to schedule an out patient MRI and call his office and make an appointment after this is done for an evaluation.
I returned to work to be told this so I called the emergency room and found out what doctor they called and then called them to let them know a Panel doctor was already treating this person. Our Workman's Comp Insurance Company was also informed about this. They in turn let the employee know that he must go back to the original treating panel doctor.
The employee told the insurance company rep that he has MS. The insurance company is now requesting that this person sign a Medical Release form and provide his MS treating physicians name and number so they can further evaluate this person’s claim. The employee refused to sign. He hired an attorney and the attorney has contacted the insurance company.
Now to my question....how should I handle this person? Is it reasonable for me to put him on a non-specified medical restricted lay-off, until the Company can determine our liability in letting him perform knowing that he could suffer from the above mentioned side effects from his claimed MS disease? (ADA – can we accommodate the disabled person) Also I do not have anything from a doctor stating that this person does in fact suffer from MS.
I'm aware that Retaliation is a notorious claim for cases like this....however, the employee did not disclose upon hiring him that he may not be able to perform some or many of the jobs tasks that he was hired for because of his disease. I'm not sure how to proceed.
Comments
Again, good luck. I'm sure it's devistating for the employee to have this diagnosis, and you're right to tread carefully. Whoof!
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
Do you have pre-employment physicals? If so, how would this have gotten under that radar? Did he falsify his questionnaire at the clinic? Would it matter?
Right now, your obligation to your company, and the employee, is to learn from medical professionals if he can perform the job and what, if any, restrictions or accommodations might be recommended.
In my world, nobody will perform these expensive tests on an employee without approval either from the carrier or one of us in HR. If they do, they eat it.