Re: Pre-Employment Physical
Let’s first look at your terminology. In some companies there is a pre-hire physical and drug screening. In this case the nurse cannot (unless the person wants) even take a blood pressure reading. Then the person is interviewed, and if hired, there is a post-hire physical which looks to the need for possible accommodations.
If this is truly a pre-hire physical and the nurse is asking detailed medical questions I believe that this company is acting improperly and could run afoul of ADA (Americans with Disability Act) and be liable in a Court action.
Usually there is a post-hire physical only (except for the prior go/no go of a drug test) which is performed after the person is hired. I will assume that you are talking about this type of post-hire physical:
You answered your question when you said she “is capable of the assignment.”
If your statement is true then what does lying get her? Management is never told “Oh Ms. X has cardiomyopathy.” Management is only told one of two things: 1) Fit for the job description. Or, 2) Unfit for job description, but would be fit for the job with the following restrictions/accomodations: (example: not to carry more than 100 boxes per hour up the stairs with a maximum weight of 22lbs.”)
The company is bound by law to accommodate an employee that needs restriction(s), though there are limits. A 500 employee company where a worker needs a $1000 chair due to morbid obesity will simply have to pay for it. A very small company where a worker needs an accommodation that costs, let’s say $50,000 probably will not and in that case the employee may be turned away. But that is not the issue as she “is physically capable of the assignment.” It is wise to remember that the nurse is looking out in the best interest of the employee first, as well as the employer. Let’s say the nurse says: “This employee needs accommodations and it will cost $1000.” Well, the employer might grumble, but can quickly be shut up with the comment: “Ok, no accommodation, we’ll just deal with the soon to be appearing Workers’ Compensation case that will cost us $120,000, not to mention an “Americans with Disability Act” lawsuit that will cost us a quarter million..”
Finally, though it does not seem logical, a wise Occ Health RN in some states realizes that cardiomyopathy could be considered (though it seems odd) to be what is known as a “Second Injury Opportunity.”
In the early part of the 20th century a worker in New York state was using a grinding wheel which blew up and blinded him in one eye. At a prior job he just happened to have been blinded in the other eye. If the Workers’ Comp payout scale is (let’s say) $120k for one eye, it is NOT $240k for both eyes (or the second eye loss). Total blindness is far more devastating that losing one eye, so the payout for the loss of the second eye might be $380k (the numbers are just a guess). Well, the company argued that they should not be responsible for the higher payment as the man had lost another eye elsewhere, so they contested the case. Later the NY Workers’ Comp Board found for the employee. The next day, in New York State, thousands of one eyed, one armed, one legged workers were let go. There was a furor all around. The answer that came out of this was called the “Second Injury Fund.” A small percentage of payments into the fund were diverted to this “held by the state” Second Injury Fund. When a worker had a prior injury or illness that “could” have been a factor one half of expenses was paid by this fund. This protected both the employee and the employer to a great extent.
Many companies self-insure, and even for those who do not self-insure, a 50% reduction in pay out by their fund or by the insurance company for a claim translates into a big savings for the company. I have saved companies tens of thousands of dollars per year utilizing this fund in NH. Though cardiomyopathy is not likely to be the cause of, let’s say, a slip and fall with a back injury, the medications “could be a contributing factor (possibly due to dizziness).” So a claim (in NH) probably would be allowed. (Remember only some states have a 2nd Injury Fund). So if your friend is deceptive the outcome could be destructive.
Worse, if an employee is deceptive to the point to where a nurse would have advised accommodations but did not due to deception, and an injury occurs, the worker could lose the case for Workers’ Compensation under the argument that if she were honest, the accommodations would have been given, and the accident would not have occurred.
A worker that needs accommodations is likely to be hurt by not having them. Even if the company weasel’s out of giving an accommodation they will have to, in essence, fire her. (And "at will" employment firing immediately after the post-hire physical will NOT get the company "off the hook," it will put them "on the hook.") Then I would suggest her calling the ADA people as they are very aggressive and will intervene and probably she would be promptly rehired with an apology and compensation in short order.
Hope this helps.
Re: Pre-Employment Physical
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