The "verification of absence" policy contains an explicit violation of HIPAA law--something to the effect of management may request details concerning the illness resulting in the sick call--that is one of the most clear-cut violations of HIPAA I've ever seen...

I HIGHLY recommend giving a signed letter to your dr's office explicitly re-iterating that you DO NOT authorize the release of ANY details of your medical condition to ANYONE without your explicit written permission on EACH occurence your records are requested by anyone but yourself...

Many people blindly sign the flurry of paperwork the dr's office gives them when admitted as a new patient--sometimes this includes a HIPAA release form...I'm uncertain if those release forms ever state employer or other party if required by law....

Either way--it's worth revisiting your dr's office next time you're in, and handing them a letter stating you deny any information to be released to your employer...

Pinnacle cannot fire you for refusing to release details of a medical condition...