Is this workplace discrimination, and is it against the law?
(sorry so long!)
My husband is diagnosed bipolar w/psychotic features, he's currently on meds that just happen to be popular with self medicators and several employees at his job of 10+ yrs have been fired for using these recently. He has provided scripts for his meds, agreed to drug tests and signed agreements not to share his drugs or take other drugs, but they have suddenly insisted that he submit to a visual evaluation with his supervisor each morning so they can make sure he's fit to work. (side effects include grogginess in the a.m. and occasional slurred speech) It's all Very Embarressing! But is it illegal? There are people who have things like high blood pressure, which also has some visable symptoms (paleness, shaking) but they aren't being checked on every morning, even though their symptoms are known to make them unable to work too.
(We already decided that if they stop after a wk or 2 we will forget it, but I'm trying to keep records in case of further problems.)
Answers:
Contact the EEOC at the link provided below. This is the BEST place to get answers to the questions you pose.
I don't know whether it is legal or not, but I agree that they should be able to make sure he is fit to work considering the side effects of the medication.
I have Multiple Sclerosis and I think that if my boss's decided that they were going to check me out each day, then that would be fine by me.
Just because somebody is o.k. one day does not necessarily mean that they will be the next.
If he is embarrassed then he needs to get over it, I get embarrassed when I have a pap-smear done...
If he's in a sensitive job, I'd call it "prudent." Your analogy isn't appropriate, since hypertension isn't likely to cause any difficulty to coworkers, but psychosis can be a danger to others. If the check is excessive or abusive, you may have a valid gripe, but this is not an easy black-and-white area.
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