Total Articles: 5
Hospital's Post-Offer Medical Questions May Violate ADA, Title VII, and Employee Privacy Rights
Michigan federal district court decision, Garlitz v. Alpena Regional Medical Center, a hospital may be liable for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII, and violation of privacy rights for withdrawing an employment offer to a medical technologist after she refused to answer a post-offer, preemployment questionnaire, directed only to females, about her sexual and reproductive history and plans for pregnancy.
Fitness-For-Duty Exam Can Be Based On Concern About Employee’s “Volatile” Behavior.
The Americans with Disabilities Act allows an employer to require an employee to undergo a Fitness For Duty Examination (FFDE) when health problems have had a substantial or injurious impact on an employee’s job performance. Such examination must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held – as an issue of first impression for that Court - that an employer also can require an employee to undergo such exam as a “preemptive” measure against potential dangerous or harmful conduct, especially when the employee is engaged in dangerous work.
Fitness-for-duty exam can be based on concern about employee's "volatile" behavior.
The Americans with Disabilities Act allows an employer to require an employee to undergo a Fitness For Duty Examination (FFDE) when health problems have had a substantial or injurious impact on an employee’s job performance. Such examination must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held – as an issue of first impression for that Court - that an employer also can require an employee to undergo such exam as a “preemptive” measure against potential dangerous or harmful conduct, especially when the employee is engaged in dangerous work.
Inconsistent administration of physical ability test can create a triable question of intentional discrimination.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s summary judgment in favor of an employer who required a female employee to take a physical ability test after an on-the-job injury, even though it did not require such a test for similarly situated male employees.
ADA Update: Fitness For Duty Exam Tangles Employer In ADA Violation.
Under the ADA, an employer may not require a current employee to undergo a medical examination unless the examination “is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.” This rule applies to all employees, whether or not they are disabled under the ADA. Confusion persists, however, over what “counts” as a medical examination. A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case titled Indergard v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. examined the issue and applied a very liberal standard.
