Disclosure of Cancer Diagnosis

les74

I work for a large non-profit organization in South Carolina. My immediate supervisor disclosed to a client that I was going through cancer treatment. I spoke with HR about this however they have done nothing to repremand her - IN FACT, she has since been promoted to Director of our department. I don't know what to do about this and wondered if anyone can help. Thanks.

Gabe N Abby Mom

I'm not sure what you would
I'm not sure what you would like to do about this...do you want an apology? Do you want her fired? Also, it's possible she was reprimanded and you were not informed of the reprimand. (You wouldn't want others in the dept to know about any reprimands you might have.) Regardless, you might check with Cancer Legal Resource Center.

http://www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/about/cancerlegalresource.cfm

les74

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

I'm not sure what you would
I'm not sure what you would like to do about this...do you want an apology? Do you want her fired? Also, it's possible she was reprimanded and you were not informed of the reprimand. (You wouldn't want others in the dept to know about any reprimands you might have.) Regardless, you might check with Cancer Legal Resource Center.

http://www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/about/cancerlegalresource.cfm

Thanks
Thanks so much for your help and you are very correct about the reprimand issue.

Rague

Totally inappropriate - and illegal
I don't really know who to tell you to talk to but you definately need to take it higher than the HR as it appears that her/bhis behavior is also inappropriate (at best). Your state should have an agency to deal with the problem - if not the federal government does have. Chyeck with the ADA site. A call to your local ACS should be able to give you sites.

It is incrediable that a 'non-profit organization would do such! Wonder how much i8nfo is being passed on about clients?

Winyan - The Power Within

Susan

VickiSam

Rague said:

Totally inappropriate - and illegal
I don't really know who to tell you to talk to but you definately need to take it higher than the HR as it appears that her/bhis behavior is also inappropriate (at best). Your state should have an agency to deal with the problem - if not the federal government does have. Chyeck with the ADA site. A call to your local ACS should be able to give you sites.

It is incrediable that a 'non-profit organization would do such! Wonder how much i8nfo is being passed on about clients?

Winyan - The Power Within

Susan

I am with the Sisters in PINK ... so
inappropriate and unprofessional. Please check with cancer site, Linda suggested.

It's your body, your story --- it belongs to you, and you alone.

Your situation is nobody's business, unless you choose to share it.


Vicki Sam

mom62

What I would do
Hi,

I'm a very straight forward person and at this point in my cancer I pretty much say what I want. I would confront her directly and tell her your diagnosis is a private matter and you would appreciate it if she kept it to herself. If you hear her spreading it more, talk to HR again.

Terry

rallendorfer

I don't understand
Was the information shared because your supervisor wanted to hurt you, or was she sympathetic? If her motive was not bad, why would you get so upset? I guess I am just not on this wavelength because I have not kept it a secret. My boss did ask me after I told him if he were permitted to tell anyone else, and I told him: absolutely! tell anyone you like! And I have found great support and sympathetic help along the way because of it. That is just me and I know we are all different. I just would not want to hurt anyone that was not trying to do anything wrong.

MAJW

rallendorfer said:

I don't understand
Was the information shared because your supervisor wanted to hurt you, or was she sympathetic? If her motive was not bad, why would you get so upset? I guess I am just not on this wavelength because I have not kept it a secret. My boss did ask me after I told him if he were permitted to tell anyone else, and I told him: absolutely! tell anyone you like! And I have found great support and sympathetic help along the way because of it. That is just me and I know we are all different. I just would not want to hurt anyone that was not trying to do anything wrong.

Same Thought....
Is it possible that she told the client because the client noticed a change in you, in your appearance, or demeanor and was inquiring out concern?
I think I would have to ask her directly as to her motive for telling the client...she maybe able to give you a satisfactory explanation...ask her to set aside a few minutes, that you'd like to talk to her...I can understand you're wanting to be private..but I would give her the chance to explain face to face....usually you can tell if she's lying....also ask her not to tell anyone else...it's not her business to divulge your health concerns..! And might possibly be illegal to do so......if she can't give a straight answer and you feel she was just being "gossipy" I'd take it as high as you can go in your organization!

Keep us posted....

NancyJac

You may have spoken with the
You may have spoken with the wrong person. In most companies, HR performs mostly administrative work and really doesn't do employee counseling. I would speak to the person's direct supervisor. It may also help to couch this as an indication of lack of professionalism or even an indication of a security risk, rather than a personal issue. Her boss is more likely to take action on those terms rather than you sounding like a disgruntled employee.

And actually, she may have been reprimanded. Just as your cancer diagnosis shouldn't have been disclosed to a client, an employee's reprimand shouldn't be disclosed either. And as far as what to do about it, my recommendation would be to let it go. Words can't be unspoken and maintaining a vendetta against your boss is not going to benefit you in any way.

salls41

My Boss told
and I was shocked when at our Christmas Party the woman in charge of catering came up and introduced herself as a Breast Cancer survivor. She told me my boss shared my recent diagnosis and she wanted to hug me and let me know things would be ok. Well my boss is an older woman..78 so I wasn't really suprised she was telling people. But the more people that found out, the better I felt. I had prayers coming from every church in the valley! I don't think she told to be mean or gossippy or any of that, it was her way of dealing with my illness.

laughs_a_lot

I work in mental health as a direct care giver.
When my supervisor was told I was concerned about what to say to the clients. There had been a recent death of another worker (by a different cause). He said to say nothing. Some of them figured it out when I was wearing all those hats and they actually kept it to themselves when I asked them to. It is your buisness to tell.

One of the phrases I used to be able to mention my condition to my co workers without getting into details was "my wonderful health suprise". The clients are always trying to listen even when the office door is closed. This allowed me to say things that needed to be said but kept matters fairly generic.

Again if the client noticed a change in you, it might have been necessary to explain depending on the circumstances. My explanation for baldness was "a bet with my son for a plane ticket to visit him if I went bald all summer."

Megan M

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

I'm not sure what you would
I'm not sure what you would like to do about this...do you want an apology? Do you want her fired? Also, it's possible she was reprimanded and you were not informed of the reprimand. (You wouldn't want others in the dept to know about any reprimands you might have.) Regardless, you might check with Cancer Legal Resource Center.

http://www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/about/cancerlegalresource.cfm

I don't know what you would
I don't know what you would do about this either, but, it doesn't seem right and may not be legal. Linda posted a good site above my post that might help you. Let us know.


Hugs, Megan

Kristin N

VickiSam said:

I am with the Sisters in PINK ... so
inappropriate and unprofessional. Please check with cancer site, Linda suggested.

It's your body, your story --- it belongs to you, and you alone.

Your situation is nobody's business, unless you choose to share it.


Vicki Sam

Very wrong and very
Very wrong and very inappropriate. Contact the ACS and see what they say.

survivorbc09

MAJW said:

Same Thought....
Is it possible that she told the client because the client noticed a change in you, in your appearance, or demeanor and was inquiring out concern?
I think I would have to ask her directly as to her motive for telling the client...she maybe able to give you a satisfactory explanation...ask her to set aside a few minutes, that you'd like to talk to her...I can understand you're wanting to be private..but I would give her the chance to explain face to face....usually you can tell if she's lying....also ask her not to tell anyone else...it's not her business to divulge your health concerns..! And might possibly be illegal to do so......if she can't give a straight answer and you feel she was just being "gossipy" I'd take it as high as you can go in your organization!

Keep us posted....

I think I would ask her too
I think I would ask her too as to why she disclosed it. I really don't think she should have told the client unless there was a really good reason. And then I think she should have come straight to you and told you.


Update us as to what happens,

Jan