The Ethicist: Can I Reveal a Colleague's Covid Diagnosis?

[ermingarden]

I work in an office with cubicles six feet apart, but we are all up and about throughout the day. We are supposed to wear a mask every time we step outside our cubicles, but for short interactions that often does not happen. The C.D.C. says the risk is higher if people are within six feet of one another for a total of 15 minutes in a day. That is probably the case for all of us. My closest cubicle mate is unvaccinated and came down with Covid. He did not tell anyone, but I found out, and I am furious that he exposed me and did not tell me. He is now out on quarantine, having told others it was a different illness.

Therapists are expected to break the confidentiality glass and tell a target if his or her life is in danger. Can I do the same? If he exposes us carelessly, our lives could be in danger. I could wear an N95 all day, I suppose, but what about the others? In any case, such measures are not foolproof. Given his carelessness and refusal to be vaccinated, and the real possibility that he could be reinfected, is it ethical to share the fact that he has Covid? Name Withheld

What you can do with what you know often depends on how you came to know it. You say you’ve discovered that this man has Covid. Now, it’s one thing if you did so through browsing his medical or insurance records, say, or through a clinical relationship that entails medical confidentiality. Obviously, you must not breach the conditions of access to privileged or otherwise protected information. Assuming that’s not the situation, however, there’s no “confidentiality glass” to break: You’re free to discuss what you’ve learned.

Should you? While it might be uncollegial to spread the word about a co-worker’s medical condition, collegiality is a two-way street. This employee, having lied about his condition, chose not to inform you and others around him in the workplace about a possible exposure to Covid. That’s something they’re entitled to know about.

And, as you note, his decision to remain unvaccinated means that he could face an elevated risk of re-infection compared with a person in his situation who was also vaccinated and boosted. Particularly at a time when the rate of infection remains high, it would probably make sense for workers to comply with office precautionary policies more rigorously. Letting people know that they have interacted, unmasked, with someone who could have infected them might encourage greater vigilance.

Comments

[melannen]

Hi LW! As someone who has been wearing an N-95 to work all day every day for, at this point, years, as have many other workers who (I suspect) are being paid less and working in worse conditions that you, you absolutely can do that! Not just "I suppose"! You should try it! If you're this worried about covid, you should have been anyway!

[cereta]

Yyyeah, last time I checked, "office mate" does not fall under privileged communication. Unless LW learned of this through a work role that involves access to medical information, they're under no obligation to keep it a secret, either legally or ethically. Could it lead to hostility? Yeah, but if the coworker in question is unvaccinated and actively keeping Covid status from coworkers, I'd say there's probably going to be hostility of some sort anyway. UGH.

[melannen]

Note, however, that if it does lead to formal unpleasantness, it is very likely going to be LW that gets in trouble with management for it for spreading her colleague's health info, not colleague for trying to get everyone sick. Based on personal experience.

[dine]

assuming LW learned of his covid status through overhearing a conversation or something, and not through confidential job-related documents, there's no bar to sharing what's known - though that should be with HR, and not around the coffee pot or an e-mail to all coworkers. indicate what's known (and how it became known), concerns about coworkers' health and need to be more vigilant about mask-wearing, and let HR decide how to inform everyone

[zana16]

HR, unlike the coworker, is not in a position to disclose an employee’s health status without taking a risk of being sued.

[dine]

probably true, but they *could* reveal that someone working (or spending time, if they wanted to vague it up) in the office has been diagnosed - combine that with a strong reminder about masking, and the important part would be covered

[lemonsharks]

OP needs to grab a VPN, an anonymous single use email, and use THAT to report coworker's diagnosis to the entire office.

Alternately, take this straight to HR do not pass go do not collect $200.

[lilysea]

I would say LW has an ethical obligation to reveal the diagnosis to LW's coworkers, so they can get tested and avoid exposing any vulnerable friends or relatives they have.