We’ve had clients come into our office in White Plains, New York who have received a severe diagnosis in many cases cancer, and they have had surgery, they are back to work and don’t require any further treatment now. The question arises as to whether that individual should inform the employer of the diagnosis. This can be a double edged sword, if the employer doesn’t know of the diagnosis going down the road, the employee may have very little protection under the Americans with disabilities act or under similar provisions of New York state law because if the employer doesn’t know he can’t discriminate against the employee on the basis of disability. If you tell the employer about your diagnosis, we don’t know what the result will be, we don’t know how the employer will react but what we can say is that the employer at that juncture is aware of the diagnosis and the fact that the employer is aware may give the employee some protection going forward should some adverse employment action occur.
This informational blog post was provided by Jane Gould, an experienced White Plains Employee Lawyer.
