Mental Health in Workplace: Employee's Privacy vs. Employer's Right to Know

Howard Mavity was quoted in Rocket News on April 5, 2015. The article “Mental Health in Workplace: Employee’s Privacy vs. Employer’s Right to Know” discussed how the news that the pilot of the Germanwings jet had been judged unfit for work by a doctor, citing an unspecified mental illness, raises tough questions about mental health in the workplace.

More employers need to recognize the risk of untreated depression and other mental illnesses, said Howard. “It’s really been ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” he said.

That might change in industries like transportation, construction, pipelines, or utilities, where the costs if something goes wrong can be astronomical. Employers may decide trying to reach out to workers they suspect are in crisis will be worth the risk of a discrimination suit if it prevents a larger catastrophe, Howard said.

Weighing the risk of a plane crash against the likelihood of “at worst a six-figure ADA claim,” he said, “they’re going to be aggressive.”

To read the full article, please visit Rocket News.