An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 10 - Privacy Rights Of Students And Employees

In addition, an operator is deemed compliant with the Act if:

 It renders the content or information posted by the minor user no longer visible to other users of the service and the public even if the content or information remains on the operator’s servers in some form.  Despite making the original posting by the minor user invisible, it remains visible because a third party has copied the posting or reposted the content or information posted by the minor. 1720

E MPLOYEE A ND S TUDENT M EDICAL I NFORMATION

Section 3

A. R EQUIREMENTS R EGARDING M EDICAL F ILES California law requires an employer who receives medical information to establish appropriate procedures to ensure the confidentiality and protection from unauthorized use and disclosure of that information. 1721 This includes any information regarding an individual’s mental condition. 1722 The procedures must include, but need not be limited to, instructing employees and agents on properly handling files containing medical information to protect the confidentiality of the information. 1723 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1724 also requires that information obtained regarding the medical condition or history of an employment applicant be kept confidential with few exceptions. The ADA further requires that information from medical examinations or inquiries be placed in a separate file and not placed in an employee’s general personnel file. 1725 Schools should follow the same general procedures for maintaining confidentiality regarding student medical information as those followed for employees. Moreover, unlike employees, medical information regarding students may qualify as a “pupil record” (see section 12 for more information regarding pupil records). B. C ONFIDENTIALITY O F M EDICAL I NFORMATION A CT As a general rule, under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) 1726 a health care provider is prohibited from releasing medical information concerning a patient absent express written authorization from the patient. Thus, under most circumstances, the applicant, employee, or student will have to provide written authorization for his or her health care provider to release medical information to the school. Moreover, certain positions at a school, such as a school nurse, may qualify as a health care provider under the law. Under the CMIA, an employer is generally prohibited from using, disclosing, or knowingly permitting its employees or agents to use or disclose medical information pertaining to an employee unless the employer first obtains written authorization from the employee. 1727

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 385