“I felt raped.” The man says he was fired for “serious insubordination” for refusing to reveal his mother’s COVID-19 diagnosis.

“I felt raped and felt I didn’t have a fair chance at getting my job,” said Wells, 28, in an interview. The Virginia Beach Norfolk Circuit Court lawsuit for man seeks $ 450,000 in damages.

As the case goes to court, like so many others related to the epidemic, companies are wondering how they can safely bring workers and customers back. More than a third of the approximately 750 companies said that one tactic would be the detection and assessment of COVID-19, according to a Mercer survey, a human resources consulting firm.

Enterprise told MarketWatch that “more than ever”, protecting the health of workers and customers is the company’s top priority. Wells and his lawyer say they understand this concern, but allege that the company did wrong in this matter.

Wells has worked as an administrative assistant at a Williamsburg branch for just over a year, earning around $ 44,000 a year, as well as between $ 12,000 and $ 15,000 waiting for tables next to it.

In mid-March, she saw her mother at her sister’s birthday party. Wells noted that her mother left early and did not dance, that she was not like her.

Later, a doctor diagnosed him with influenza and an upper respiratory infection, said Wells. Although a COVID-19 test was finally performed, Wells said he did not share the results with him. (He said his mom is doing better now and the couple are taking virtual exercise classes together, he told MarketWatch.)

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Wells said he told his bosses at the time that his mother was not feeling well, but that he was not told to isolate himself or to take other precautionary measures.

That changed in late March when the company received an anonymous call from a person alleging that Wells may have been exposed to the virus, according to the lawsuit.

A human resources manager told Wells to take the test and, in a termination letter dated April 2, said that he refused to take the test. “I also asked him to follow up with a family member and keep me informed of his condition, as well as the results of the family member’s tests,” said the letter, noting that it was difficult to communicate with Wells.

Wells said at one point that he had lost his taste and smell. At the time, he attributed it to allergies, he told MarketWatch. After Wells informed him of company officials, they removed him from his job and advised him to contact his doctor, the letter said.

In late April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added the new loss of taste or odor as a potential symptom of infection with a coronavirus.

The dismissal letter stated that Wells was “reckless in the face of the current pandemic” and dismissed him for “serious insubordination”.

Wells and his lawyer say he does not reject a test. He planned to test during his next week off, but was fired before he had a chance.

“I just don’t know if people should necessarily hand over their family’s health records. I think it’s obviously a step too far,” Wells lawyer Barry Montgomery of Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith told Richmond, Virginia.

“Today more than ever, the health and safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority. We have no further comments to make on this specific case at this time,” said a spokesperson. from Enterprise to MarketWatch.

Wells, now unemployed, never finishes a test. He said while seeking to be tested, but maintains that he did not meet the test criteria because he did not have enough symptoms.

Underlying laws and various interpretations

Wells’ trial says he was fired for refusing to accept Enterprise’s request, and alleges that his previous company violated the privacy laws of the Portability and Insurance Liability Act illness (HIPAA) that protect his mother’s medical records.

Employers have the right to take a worker’s temperature and prohibit workers from rejecting temperature controls or not answering questions about whether they have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been assessed, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal regulator.

But the EEOC advises companies to avoid questions about family members.

When MarketWatch asked about companies looking for information on a worker’s family, an EEOC spokesperson cited a recent agency case.

There, Sharon Rennert, chief tax advisor, said that the DNA Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) “prohibits employers from asking employees about their family members for medical questions”.

According to Rennert presentation end of March“A better question from a public health and workforce management perspective is whether someone has been in contact with someone they know has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or may have symptoms associated with the disease. From the EEOC’s perspective, this general question is more robust. “

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Professor Jessica Roberts, a specialist in genetics and disability law at the University of Houston Law Center, says the current legal landscape is not so clear.

The protections for medical privacy in the Wells trial may not apply, and a law like GINA may not also cover the case, according to Roberts. The law prohibits seeking the medical history of a worker’s family, but based on his interpretations of previous court decisions, Roberts said it is not clear that the results of the coronavirus tests would count.

“Unfortunately, as Americans return to work, they may find that they have very little legal protection against requests for medical information from their employers,” said Roberts, author of “Healthism: Health-Status Discrimination and the Law “.

“I think it’s a tough deal to win under current federal law, at least if I understand correctly,” said Roberts.

Back in Virginia, Montgomery said that HIPAA medical confidentiality laws could be used. If a doctor or health care professional makes unauthorized disclosure of patient information, they could be responsible, he said. The company was apparently trying to ask Wells to help it disclose the information, said Montgomery.