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Manager shared medical information with colleague
Hi, I am currently looking for advice and guidance as I have found myself in a situation that I have never experienced before.
I recently found out I was pregnant and unfortunately suffered a miscarriage which left me having to take a sick day at work. Due to this and the fact I felt I had a good relationship with my manager, I did inform her that the reason for me being unwell was due to the fact that I had suffered a miscarriage. I did not think that telling her this would then lead to my confidentiality being breached and her disclosing this to a colleague.
This was found out as I disclosed to my colleague how upset I was and how I had miscarried, my colleague responded that she was aware that I had and when exploring this further and asked her who had informed her of this (as I hadn't and had not provided consent to do so either), my colleague had advised that it was manager. Understandably I became upset and left the building extremely emotional (I also have a diagnosed anxiety disorder and undergoing other assessments) and impacted on my mental health a lot when I found out.
On my return to the building, my colleague had informed me that she had reported to my manager that I was aware she had disclosed this information, and how unhappy I was, and my managers response was that she thought everyone knew. My manager did not pull me to the side to discuss this, nor did she apologise directly to me and was brushed under the carpet.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time my manager has done this, and has discussed other employees to myself also around sensitive safeguarding concerns around a colleague who had left our service.
I have contacted the ISO who provided me guidance around having to go through my employer first and gave me a guided letter that I could use within notifying my employer (HR) of my concerns around this Data Protection breach.
This has impacted massively on my mental health and physical health as due to the worry and stress of it all i go into work daily with a headache at present which i didnt prior to this incident.
I am massively concerned around what other information this manager may or may not have disclosed, but due to how forthcoming she is with sensitive information, and as a result feel that I now have no other support and that she may be sided with.
Any guidance around whether what this manager has done is a data breach and if I have gone around this the right way.
I recently found out I was pregnant and unfortunately suffered a miscarriage which left me having to take a sick day at work. Due to this and the fact I felt I had a good relationship with my manager, I did inform her that the reason for me being unwell was due to the fact that I had suffered a miscarriage. I did not think that telling her this would then lead to my confidentiality being breached and her disclosing this to a colleague.
This was found out as I disclosed to my colleague how upset I was and how I had miscarried, my colleague responded that she was aware that I had and when exploring this further and asked her who had informed her of this (as I hadn't and had not provided consent to do so either), my colleague had advised that it was manager. Understandably I became upset and left the building extremely emotional (I also have a diagnosed anxiety disorder and undergoing other assessments) and impacted on my mental health a lot when I found out.
On my return to the building, my colleague had informed me that she had reported to my manager that I was aware she had disclosed this information, and how unhappy I was, and my managers response was that she thought everyone knew. My manager did not pull me to the side to discuss this, nor did she apologise directly to me and was brushed under the carpet.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time my manager has done this, and has discussed other employees to myself also around sensitive safeguarding concerns around a colleague who had left our service.
I have contacted the ISO who provided me guidance around having to go through my employer first and gave me a guided letter that I could use within notifying my employer (HR) of my concerns around this Data Protection breach.
This has impacted massively on my mental health and physical health as due to the worry and stress of it all i go into work daily with a headache at present which i didnt prior to this incident.
I am massively concerned around what other information this manager may or may not have disclosed, but due to how forthcoming she is with sensitive information, and as a result feel that I now have no other support and that she may be sided with.
Any guidance around whether what this manager has done is a data breach and if I have gone around this the right way.
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