Medication and employers right to know

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I know I haven't had much to say since my first post, but now I have a

problem, and I wanted to run it by y'all. I have a bulging disc at L-5 S-1

which caused me to take about 6 weeks of unpaid leave off of work, but now

I am back to work. I work in a restaurant, and my shifts are at least 8

hours long, all of which is on my feet. (I wait tables at a late night

diner) I take muscle relaxers (Soma) and painkillers (Vicocin) 3 times a

day, especially when I'm at work. Without them, my legs hurt a lot, and

my back hurts, and it's hard to walk around all night carrying plates with

any kind of speed. I haven't been secretive about what I'm taking, but now

I wish I hadn't mentioned it to anybody. One of my favoritie managers (who

is about half my age--I'm 45) told the general manager that he felt I was

taking too many cigarette breaks and that it might be due to the medication

I'm on. If you've ever worked in a restaurant you might know that a

cigarette break is often our only chance to sit down; We don't get

official breaks of any kind. Now the chief accountant at the office is

asking the general manager to give him a list of the medications I " m

taking. I'm supposed to talk to the GM tomorrow about this.

My understanding of privacy laws is that I don't have to tell my employer

what medications I'm taking. That's supposed to be between me and my

doctor. I'm certainly going to be very careful about breaks from now on,

and take as little medication as possible, and I will tell them

that. Still. Do you think I should tell them exactly what I'm taking?

I was shocked to learn that my immediate manager had said all this about me

in a manager meeting when he could have just spoken to me directly. I felt

like crying all night after I learned this. He and I were friends, I

thought. Now my reputation is being called into question at the highest

level of this organization. (A lot of people, including him, drink and do

other substances at work routinely, and I have never been one of

them. It's not my style to bring that up, however.)

So. Should I just tell my GM that I am taking prescription medications for

my back pain that I feel are no one's business but me and my doctor's?

I can certainly promise to try and take less breaks and to take as little

medication as possible while still taking enough to function too. I just

don't feel like giving them a list of medications. I'm a waitress, not an

airline pilot.

Thanks for any advice you may have,

Vida