Paul Cronan Case Analysis

9 Pages 2172 Words

Introduction:
The Paul Cronan case deals with an employee of New England Telephone Company (NET) of Boston who developed AIDS, lost his employment, and subsequently brought a lawsuit against the company. He charged that “…NET had discriminated against him based on a handicap, AIDS; had violated his right to privacy; and had coerced him not to return to work”.1

Legal Issues:
There are two main legal issues in the Paul Cronan case: a) the employee’s reasonable expectation of privacy and b) is the disease, AIDS, covered by anti-discrimination laws and, if so, did NET discriminate against the employee? The laws involved in this case are The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) under the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the individual state’s privacy laws.

Legal Analysis:
Every employee has a certain right to privacy under the law. Certain information about the employee must be kept confidential by the employer unless the employee gives special permission for what and to whom the information is released. Paul Cronan informed his immediate supervisor and the company physician about his condition and denied permission for anyone else to be notified. The supervisor told three of his supervisors and the information gradually leaked out to all of the employees. This general knowledge led to an environment of fear and hostility toward Mr. Cronan related to his disease and also to his sexual orientation. During the year he was off work, he heard of graffiti and generalized hostile conversation about his lifestyle and his disease. When he was ready to return to work, he wanted assurances from his supervisor that he would not be physically harmed upon his return. The supervisor did not respond to these inquiries. Even though Mr. Cronan did receive a letter from NET offering to return him to his previous position and make “reasonable accommodation” to his situation, Mr. Cronan was convinced that the letter was just a cover for poten...