A SpeedLounge.com SponsorIs it legal for a prospective employer to force you to have a medical procedure to get the job?
I found this ad on Craigslist and was completely blown away by it. Please let me know what you think. It HAS to be illegal in some way. This guy is looking for an Executive Secretary for his Lasik practice in NYC. It’s one thing to look for a great new employee and want your current ones to perform well but this guy is a bit over the top. He must have had a really bad day and you can tell from his post that he hates his employees. He says that in order to apply for the job, you MUST wear contacts or glasses and get a lasik procedure (this is a job requirement). What???? Is he for real??? Someone has to report this guy. So, if you have great vision, you can’t work for him? Is he nuts? I guess he’s not forcing you to work for him but with the job market the way it is now, if you are an experienced secretary that meets a lot of these requirements, is it legal for this guy NOT to hire you because you refuse un unnecessary medical procedure? Attorneys???? Anyone have any thoughts on this. I just had to share this with others.
Here is the ad as it was posted today:
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY FOR LASER VISION CORRECTION CENTER-MUST WANT LASEK (Flatiron)
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Reply to: job-1010080759@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2009-01-27, 3:42PM EST
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS AD UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO READ IT CAREFULLY TO THE END, AS THERE ARE SEVERAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO MEET AND SUBMIT
SO IF YOU ARE SIMPLY GOING TO REPLY TO THIS AND 100 OTHER ADS WITH A STOCK RESPONSE AND COVER LETTER, DON’T BOTHER AS I WILL NOT EVEN OPEN YOUR EMAIL I WILL JUST DELETE IT
I CAN TELL FROM HOW YOU APPLY WHETHER YOU EVEN BOTHERED TO READ THIS ENTIRE AD, WHICH IS ONE REASON I AM PUTTING IN SUCH SPECIFIC APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS–TO WEED OUT THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T BOTHER TO READ THE ADS FULLY AND JUST SPAM RESUMES TO EMPLOYERS, WHICH IS NOT THE WAY TO GET A JOB
I am the MD owner of www.ParkAvenueLaser.com which is NYC’s only 100% no-cut, no-flap, all-laser LASEK and epi-LASEK center
VISIT OUR WEBSITE BEFORE YOU APPLY FOR THIS JOB SO YOU KNOW WHAT WE DO SO YOU CAN SEE IF YOU’RE A GOOD FIT!
Job Requirements (you must meet ALL of these to apply):
1. Graduate of a 4-year college, AND
2. 10 years experience of full-time work after graduating from college, AND
3. 5 years experience as a full-time receptionist or secretary, AND
4. 1 year of experience in a medical or spa or retail job, AND
5. you need to be wearing glasses and/or contacts and want to get laser vision correction, AND
6. computer literate, good with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, ACT!
Daily Tasks (my current secretaries make all of these mistakes on a daily basis—you should not):
1. Call ALL appointments to confirm them (they now call “most” of them)
2. Give me my highlighted schedule every night of the next day’s activities
3. Pull all charts and prep them TWO DAYS BEFORE the patients come in (again, they say they do this “most” of the time, but in need to be done all of the time)
4. Clear ALL medical insurances and check for referrals every time BEFORE patient comes in
5. Collect ALL copays and record ALL in BOTH the chart AND receipt book every time
6. Log in ALL payments received on the spreadsheet every time
7. Give patients a receipt of payments and have me sign the receipt book
8. Enter people’s FULL contact information in ACT! when they call / come in
9. Check demographic sheet patients fill out to make sure it is complete
10. do NOT purposely circumvent ACT! system by entering “.” instead of real information
11. Ask patients to spell their names, company name, and email address
12. Get the full name, phone #, date, time, and details of every message
13. Properly greet patients and offer them complimentary tea/coffee/water
14. Straighten out the waiting room at least once a day
15. Come out from behind the front desk / sit down next to “VIP” patients
16. Decrement # of referrals in the chart, and ask for new referral as gets to 0
17. Check expiration dates of insurance cards and referrals
18. Check charts to make sure patients actually paid for their LASEK before surgery
19. Tell me or other staff members in a timely fashion when problems arise
20. Take action to fix small problems so they don’t become a big problem
21. Properly communicate issues to the other staff at the daily morning meeting
22. Don’t check patients out too quickly and not double-check that they understand directions
23. Tell prospective patients about your own LASEK (which you’ll get for free) to get them excited!:)
24. Understand we are an elective surgery center, so you have to do marketing (e.g., get leads fr. patients)
25. Ask every 20/20 happy patient for leads (names of friends interested in getting lasered)
26. Notice which patients no-show for their postop. appointments and GET THEM IN!
What is asserted and proposed in this ad is not only ludicrous, but definitely outside the realm of acceptable conditions for pre employment screening. This would fall under the laws of disability discrimination as well as other pertinent laws applicable in the jurisdiction wherein this ridiculous ad was placed. This is assuming that it is a real and bonafide ad placed by a prospective employer.
Provided this ad was placed or authorized to be placed by a legitimate hiring authority, it is a severely misguided attempt by this employer to employ a person or persons who has or will soon have first hand knowledge of the main thrust of their employment. This being the sale and commission of a certain medical procedure, and other subsequent operations or attentions inherent to such treatments and procedures.
One could easily imagine a cardiovascular surgeon setting prerequisite requirements for a surgical nurse of having previously had angioplasty or open heart surgery performed prior to joining his surgical unit. One, no respected and competent heart surgeon would specify such, and two, if they did, prospective patients should have their head examined for ever considering allowing such a practitioner to perform a blood pressure examination, let alone, a life threatening procedure or a procedure which might result in diminished vision or blindness.
Were there a qualified applicant initiating prospective employment activities, who was bespectacled, upon rejection of employment for refusal to adhere to these ridiculous conditions of employment, they would have cause to litigate under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and quite possibly have a cause of action under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This would be dependent upon whether this numb skull’s practice received any Federal Subsistence in the form of grants or loans.
If a qualified, ordinarily healthy individual applied and was subsequently rejected as a result of refusing to comply with the preposterous stipulations outlined in your description, they too would have recourse under employment discrimination law, although it would require development of a whole other set of issues.
This person or party or parties needs to be reported to the governing board of their medical practice in the jurisdiction in which they are resident. Hopefully, upon counseling and advisement, they would modify both their attitude and their policies as specified. In the meantime, warn all your friends and associates if you can identify the practitioner or practitioners. This may e a problem with Craig’s List unless they list their business or you follow up as a prospective candidate specifically to establish the identity of these miscreants.
Lawyers no longer have any ethical consternation, why should some idiot with a high tech laser tool, making about 3 grand every time they fire it up be any different?
Park Avenue Laser Vision-Epi LASEK
http://www.ParkAvenueLaser.com
Email: Info@ParkAvenue Laser.com
This is the Epi-Lasek & Monovue Customvue surgery of my eyes done on May 23, 2008, performed by Dr. Chynn at Park Avenue Laser in New York City.
I had a free consultation with Dr. Shavers and also observed the live surgery session before deciding to have the Epi-Lasek and monovision.
The procedure was quick and painless. I was able to see well right after the surgery.I went back to work after resting a long week end. After working in front of the computer all day I had the urge to remove my contact lenses which I was not wearing. I had 20/25 vision one week after the surgery.
Overall experience was very good and I’m glad that I had this procedure done. Staffs at Park Avenue Laser Vision are friendly, knowledgeable, and very attentive. If you are considering Laser Vision Correction, I would definitely recommend Park Avenue Laser.
Park Avenue Laser Vision
NY’s Only No-Cut/No-Flap, All-Laser Center
Emil William Chyn, MD FACS MBA
Darthmouth/Columbia/Harvard/Emory/NYU-tr ained
102 E. 25th Street (& Park Ave. So.)
New York, NY 100100
(888) I-WANT-2020 – Toll Free
(212) 741-8628 – Tel
Http://www.ParkAvenueLaser.com
Email: Info@parkavenuelaser.com
Duration : 0:7:32
Swan Cheng’s Epi-LASEK Surgery at Park Avenue Laser Vision
I am one of those people who started wearing glasses and contact lenses by the time I was 13 years old. People with high myopia can sympathize with me because I could only see hand motion without contact lenses or glasses. I have been thinking about the procedure since 2001. Every time when I heard that a relative or friend had LASIK, I would research about the procedure. But I was a “scaredy cat” and afraid of getting my cornea cut. After years of struggling with contact lenses, I had the epi-LASEK procedure performed on my eyes by Dr. Emil Chynn on April 30, 2008. I finally took the plunge based on the thoroughness of Dr. Chynn’s evaluations after years of indecisiveness. I was very impressed by Dr. Chynn’s credentials. He is a Columbia and Harvard-trained physician who also elected to further his formal education with a one-year refractive surgery and corneal fellowship at Emory University, where he studied under Dr. George Warning MD, one of the world’s leading authorities on refractive surgery.
Now, I can finally see the way I used to see as a young child. Having my vision permanently corrected has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself! From waking up in the morning and being able to se the clock, to driving, watching television, even putting on make-up! Being able to see clearly with out wearing glasses is truly amazing! Seeing is believing! Dr. Chynn — Thank you for making this incredible difference in my life!! You have my deepest gratitude. To anyone who is myopic and considering laser vision correction, I would highly recommend Park Avenue Laser Vision. At Park Avenue Laser Vision, you are always assured of the best equipment, the highest standards of quality control and excellent physicians, which optimizes your chances for an excellent result.
Duration : 0:1:7
Jonathans CustomVue Epi-LASEK surgery by Dr Chynn
I had my Epi-LASEK surgery done at Park Avenue Laser Vision (www.parkavenuelaser.com) to correct my Rx of OS -3.25 and OD -3.75. This POV is not the DVD Dr. Chynn provides you of your surgery from the camera attached to the laser. My DVD was accidentally ejected by one of the receptionists without it being finalized, meaning blank disc…I’m actually glad my wife was with me in the O.R. recording everything with our camcorder…from being prepped for surgery, everything in between, to the end. I like this better actually!!
How did I come to choose having my surgery at Park Avenue Laser Vision, you ask?? I did a TON of research prior to selecting Dr Chynn. First was the no cutting, no flap LASEK procedure (different from LASIK).
Second was Dr Chynn’s credentials (Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Emory, NYU…and he’s a member of MENSA)!!
Third is he has 12,000+ cases under his belt with ZERO LAWSUITS for complications…compare that to a certain other LASIK practice that advertises on NYC radio stations, but who has almost 100 pending lawsuits for flap complications, etc.
Fourth, at Park Avenue Laser Vision are DOCTORS who went to medical school who do your eye tests and CustomVue scans versus the TECHNICIANS at other practices who have not gone to medical school.
And the list goes on of why me and my friend chose Park Avenue Laser Vision. The CON is the recovery time for LASEK (no flap- your epithileal cells need to regrow) takes about 4 days longer than LASIK (with a flap and where 90% of complications occur). Just imagine if you play contact sports and your flap gets dislodged!?!?! Or if you’re at the local bar and [insert your favorite sports team here] wins, and the person next to you cheering in excitement elbows you in the eye!?!? AREN’T YOUR ONLY PAIR OF EYES WORTH IT????
Another CON is the Post-Op meds cost me about $160 out of pocket, and that’s with my firm’s Caremark Rx insurance.
Myself, had my surgery on a Wednesday before Memorial Day after work…I went back to work on the following Tuesday. I also was mentally preparing myself for SCRATCHY SAND-LIKE PAIN for a few days after surgery, and had NONE OF THAT!! The worst of it was 1-2 days of the feeling of a folded contact lens underneath my eyelid.
Duration : 0:9:59
Eye surgery epi lasek lasek lasikEpi-Lasek Surgery by Dr Chynn
www.parkavenuelaser.com
Dr Chynn of Park Avenue Laser Vision performs Epi-Lasek on both my eyes. I was -11.5 -3.5 and -12.0 -4.0 before surgery.
Duration : 0:7:25