Dollar General to pay $1M to settle claim it requested applicants’ family medical history

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Greenback Basic pays $1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it requested household medical historical past from job candidates, in line with a Thursday announcement.

The employer, formally Dolgencorp, LLC, required candidates at its Bessemer, Alabama, distribution heart to share previous and current medical situations of relations resembling most cancers, diabetes and coronary heart illness, in line with the 2017 U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee lawsuit (EEOC v. Dolgencorp, LLC).

It additionally required candidates to cross a post-offer, pre-employment medical examination that screened out certified people with disabilities, the fee alleged, calling it “extremely invasive.”

“For instance,” the company mentioned in an announcement, “Greenback Basic rescinded job presents to candidates whose blood strain exceeded 160/100 or who had lower than 20/50 imaginative and prescient in a single eye, even when these impairments didn’t forestall the candidates from safely performing the job.”

These actions ran afoul of each the Genetic Info Nondiscrimination Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Act, EEOC alleged in its lawsuit. It mentioned it filed the declare on behalf of practically 500 candidates who have been required to report household medical historical past and one other class of certified candidates whose job presents have been rescinded primarily based on their impairments. 

Along with the financial settlement, Greenback Basic agreed to supply annual coaching to all people concerned within the hiring course of on the ADA and GINA. Greenback Basic didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

GINA prohibits employers from discriminating in opposition to workers on the idea of genetic info, and likewise prohibits associated questions. Likewise, the ADA units strict limits on inquiries that quantity to medical examinations at each the pre-offer and post-offer phases of hiring, and for these of workers.

Whereas HR can work to make sure insurance policies and procedures don’t run afoul of the legislation, supervisor coaching additionally will be essential for GINA and ADA compliance, employment legislation attorneys have mentioned: Managers typically trigger violations by asking invasive questions or retaliating in opposition to workers who train their rights.