Ask Matt: Fired For Medical Reasons - Now What?

If you have lost a job for medical reasons there are laws that protect you and steps to take to show the next employer you are ready to be hired - without disclosing your past medical condition.

By Matt Krumrie, Star Tribune Sales and Marketing

Last update: October 19, 2009 - 2:56 PM

Dear Matt: I was fired from my previous position due to medical reasons. When a potential employer calls my former employer, how much information is the previous employer allowed to say before it becomes a privacy violation? What can I do if the reason I was terminated is brought up in an interview?

Matt: As Twin Cities attorney Karen S. Johnston points out, under the health information privacy rules included in HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), an individual's medical information is protected from unauthorized disclosure. Therefore, releasing any information about an individual's health or medical information would be crossing the privacy line.

Typically a potential employer calls a former employer to confirm dates of employment, job title, and sometimes salary, says Twin Cities career coach Karen Kodzik (www.cultivating careers.com).

At some point, your work history will be brought up – and the employer will want to know why you left your previous position. The answer to the question about reason for leaving should be well-crafted and practiced based on the specific circumstances. Kodzik coaches her clients to avoid using the word "terminated" and instead trains them to give these types of responses:

I left the company due to leadership changes.

I left the company because the position no longer aligned with my strengths or interests.

I left the company to pursueother opportunities.

"Too often people disclose beyond what is necessary and appropriate," says Kodzik. "The key is to be truthful, yet brief."

Mike Minenko, an attorney with Edina-based law firm Minenko & Hoff, P.A., points out that it's illegal for the former employer to disclose an employee's medical information without the employee's written authorization.

If your medical condition is fully resolved, you may want to consider noting you had a temporary condition which led to your inability to work for a time, but that condition is no longer a factor in your ability to come to work and to complete the essential functions of the job for which you have applied, says Johnston. That answer does not need to include any medical detail or personal health information. However, you should think about incorporating into that answer your qualifications, skills and abilities as they relate to performing the essential functions of the job you are seeking rather than dwelling on the facts of your past employment.

Matt Krumrie is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, and has nine years of experience reporting on the employment industry. This column will answer readers' questions. E-mail questions or subject ideas to askmatt@startribune.com.

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