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View Full Version : Is showing other co-workers someone's (yours) documents hipaa violations?


Lourdes18
Apr 8, 2012, 06:09 AM
I was recently fired for insubordination (dating someone in the same company but different department). The other person was written up and I was fired. We were given ims that were assumed to have been innapropriate (but were not, they were work related mostly). I come to find out that they(the Vise President and my ex boss) had pulled a co-worker to the side and showed her as well as told her that I was writing horrible things about her to other co-workers. They were not the same ims that I have seen and apparently were ims using words and names that I would never use. Also, the co-worker who was told all of this is a good friend of mine and threatened to leave if I ever got fired for something stupid. I wanted to know if what my ex boss and the Vise President did was in violation with the Hippa Law?

odinn7
Apr 8, 2012, 06:17 AM
No. HIPAA is health related only... medical history and such. Showing IM's is not a HIPAA violation.

ScottGem
Apr 8, 2012, 07:11 AM
First, as noted, HIPAA deals the confidentiality of medical records. I don't see anything here that even pertains to HIPAA. Second, Instant Message (IM) logs are the property of the person keeping the log. They have to the right to do with them whatever they please. However, if these IMs are using a corporate system, then they are the property of the corporation. Whether its ethical to use them or not depends on the circumstances.

Most US states ate employment at will, which means you can be fired for almost any non discriminatory reason. Seems to me you gave them more than enough reason to fire you.