By Carrie Mason-Draffen

Jul. 1, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune News Service delivered by Newstex) -- Q. My boss has the gift of gab and continually spreads around intimate details about his employees. For example, I recently told him I needed to take a day off for a minor medical procedure. I later found out that he told most of my co-workers why I was out. He blabbed after I specifically told him I did not want him to discuss the matter with my co-workers.

His big mouth causes a lot of resentment in the office. He is the owner and I report directly to him, so I really don't have anyone else to complain to. I'm assuming that if he asks the reason I can't make it to work or if he requests a doctor's note, I would have to comply. Do I have any legal rights? Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this?

A. Your boss is so busy gabbing that he doesn't know where to draw the line in his conversations. That's not a "gift" but a curse -- a curse for you and your colleagues. And some day, the mindless yammering could prove to be a curse for him.

How he obtains the personal information and how a worker is treated after the owner blabs personal medical information could leave the blabby boss facing some serious legal issues.

"If your boorish boss is getting any of the information he blabs about from the company' medical plan, he's violating the HIPAA law (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)," said Richard Kass, a partner at Bond, Schoeneck & King in Manhattan.

And that's just for starters.

"If he's causing employees to be ostracized because of their medical condition, or if he's creating the impression that he treats employees differently because of their ailments," Kass said, "he may be getting himself into trouble under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and analogous state laws."

You're right that the boss can legally ask you for medical information to explain your absence.

"An employer is permitted to request medical documentation of absences," Kass said. "So you cannot simply withhold the information."

But your boss needs to learn to use that information discreetly. You could help that process along by sending an anonymous copy of this column to him.

In the meantime, you and your co-workers have to come up with a strategy that curtails his ability to gain sensitive information about his employees. Kass suggests the following:

"The next time your boss starts discussing inappropriate subjects, tell him that you have to get back to your work. If everyone in the office does this, he'll lose his audience."

------

VANISHING ACT: An accountant has responded with more advice for an employee I wrote about who had trouble collecting unemployment benefits because his boss deducted taxes from the worker's check but didn't forward them to the IRS. Because of that, the state Labor Department had no record of the employee and initially denied him benefits. He eventually established his work record through W-2s.

The worker should also contact the Social Security Administration, said Ruth Sattig Betz, a certified public accountant in Farmingdale, N.Y.

If the employer did not report or pay the payroll taxes, such as Social Security or Medicare, chances are the W-2 statements the worker received were never filed with Social Security, she said.

"SSA records should be corrected, if necessary, because any omissions could affect the amount of Social Security (the employee) collects in the future," she said.

------

(Carrie Mason-Draffen is the author of "151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People." She welcomes questions for the "Help Wanted" column. Contact her at 631-843-2450 or carrie.draffen@newsday.com.)

------

(c) 2008, Newsday.

Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Newstex ID: KRTN-0134-26361768