Linda Rosenzweig Quoted in Newsday
"Help Wanted"

In the September 25, 2005 "Help Wanted" workplace advice column in Newsday, Linda provides counsel regarding the legality of a company's request for a diagnosis from a doctor for sick time of three or more days.

"I work for a large corporation that requires employees to bring in a doctor's note if we are out sick for three or more days. That's not the worst of it. The company also requires the note to include a diagnosis, prescribed medications for the illness and how long the employee was under a doctor's care. My physician refuses to include the diagnosis because he says it's illegal to publicize it. But the company will not compensate employees for sick leave unless the note includes a diagnosis. Is this legal? Even if employees fulfill all the company's requirements, they can still run into a buzz saw because the company has a staff doctor who has overruled employees' doctors and specialists and has deemed the employees healthy enough to return to work when their own doctors advised more time off. I'm also wondering if this is legal."

Under some statutes, the policy may be permissible, said Linda Rosenzweig of law firm Seyfarth Shaw. Here's what she tells her clients: "We routinely advise employers to limit their request to basic job-related information, such as whether the employee is fit to return to work, whether they can meet the essential functions of the job and for a diagnosis where statutorily required." For example, if an ill worker applies for time off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, he or she could be asked to supply a diagnosis, she said. On the other hand, the FMLA forbids a company to ask what kind of medication the ill employee is taking. "It's not even relevant," she said.