Legal Question in Workers Comp in Virginia
How private are my medical records in a workers comp claim ?
I recently filed a workers comp claim for carpal tunnel syndrome sustained after 17 years of employment with my company. all of it at a computer. Our company has a Human Resources person who handles the claims and secures the records. My problem is that there is a lady who has the title of General Manager over our company who gets information from the medical files,which she says she uses to enact policies & procedures. I specifically requested when I filed my claim that I did not want anyone knowing about this injury/illness.I was told it would be kept confidential and only the HR person would see the details and name on the claim. A couple days ago the General Manager passed me in an open hallway & commented that there would not be a monetary bonus for the company being injury free this quarter since I had filed a claim. My question is '' Does this manager have the right to look at or be inquire as to the details of these files/reports, since we have a Human Resource person who hanldes ALL the paperwork''? I have spoken with the Manager about this and her reply was that she has the right to see ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that the company has about ANYONE, and that basically if I had a problem with then I should just get over it.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: How private are my medical records in a workers comp claim ?
There's nothing in Virginia Workman's Compensation Law that I am aware of to prevent
company managers from reviewing the details of
these claims made against their company.
One could argue, with some persuasion, that such
managers should have access to these claims in order to be able to assess and evaluate where there may be problems in operational areas which may be exposing employees to injuries which result in these claims and higher costs for the company as well as what may be unnecessary pain and suffering for company employees.
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