EEOC Challenges Overbroad Medical Releases In Lawsuit Against Cummins Power

An interesting release from the EEOC. Non job-related medical inquiries are prohibited under the Americans With Disabilities Act, as well as many state laws. Although gender identity disorders are excluded from the ADA as a disability (unless there is a physical cause), the prohibition on non-job related medical inquiries apply to everyone, regardless of disability. Thus, requests for medical and surgical status might very well be prohibited by the ADA and similar state laws.

EEOC Challenges Overbroad Medical Releases In Lawsuit Against Cummins Power Company Violated Two Federal Laws by Making Invasive and Irrelevant Inquiries Through Its Medical Releases, Federal Agency Charges 

MINNEAPOLIS - Shoreview, Minn.-based Cummins Power Generation violated federal law by requiring an employee to submit overbroad medical release forms to have a fitness for duty examination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today. In its lawsuit, the federal agency contended that Cummins required an employee to sign various medical release forms that sought irrelevant information.

Cummins informed the employee that he had to sign a release before taking a fitness-for-duty examination. When the employee objected to executing the releases presented to him, Cummins informed him that he had to sign a release or face termination. Cummins ultimately fired the employee for failing to sign the release, the EEOC said. The EEOC maintains that by requiring the employee to execute an overly broad release, Cummins was making disability-related inquiries that were not job-related or consistent with business necessity. Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

 Further, the EEOC asserts that the releases presented to the employee would have resulted in the disclosure of family medical history in violation of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). The EEOC argues that Cummins also violated the anti-retaliation provisions of the ADA and GINA by firing the employee for his good-faith objections to the releases. The EEOC brought the suit under Title I of the ADA, which prohibits disability discrimination in employment, and under Title II of GINA, which prohibits the acquisition of genetic information, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The case (EEOC v. Cummins Power Generation, Civil Action 0:14-cv-03408-SRN-SER) was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, and is assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.

"The EEOC doesn't challenge Cummins' request for a fitness-for-duty examination, but Cummins had an obligation to request only those medical records and information that actually pertained to that issue," said John Hendrickson, regional attorney for the EEOC's Chicago district. "Employees don't give up all rights to privacy of their medical information when they get a job. By asking for all and sundry medical information, Cummins went too far. The EEOC is here to make sure employers follow the requirements of ADA - and of GINA, which is a newer statute that everyone needs to understand and observe."

The EEOC's Chicago District Office is responsible for processing discrimination charges, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its website at http://www.eeoc.gov.