The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reached a settlement with Reliable Staffing, an Indianapolis staffing firm, resolving a charge of disability discrimination. The charge alleged the firm unlawfully made pre-offer medical inquiries to numerous job applicants. The EEOC alleged that Reliable Staffing used these medical inquiries to screen out applicants with disabilities. The EEOC also found during its investigation that the staffing firm stored protected medical information in employee personnel files, instead of a confidential medical file as mandated by federal law. Reliable Staffing will pay $25,000.00 as part of the agreement and will change their information storage practices.

Under the ADA, an employer’s ability to conduct medical examinations or make disability-related inquires is analyzed in three stages: pre-offer, post-offer, and employment.

  • Pre-Offer: employers are prohibited from all disability-related inquiries and medical examinations.
  • Post-Offer: after the employer has given the applicant a conditional job offer but before the applicant has begun work, the employer may require a medical examination or make a disability inquiry.
  • Employment: once an employee has begun work, an employer may only make disability-inquiries or require medical examinations if they are job-related and consistent with business necessity.

The ADA also requires medical information collected by employers to be maintained in a confidential manner and stored separately from an employee’s general personnel file. Medical information encompasses everything related to an employee’s health, health benefits, health-related leave, and benefits selection and coverage, including physical exams, medications, and wellness program reports.

The agreement comes as part of the EEOC’s conciliation program, which is aimed at settling a charge of discrimination before it gets to court. The conciliation process is informal and confidential and completely voluntary. Employers are encouraged to thoroughly investigate any charge of discrimination before responding to the EEOC. Under certain circumstances, conciliation may be a useful tool to avoid protracted litigation.

The attorneys at Fishel Downey regularly work with employers who have received a charge of discrimination from the EEOC or the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. If you have any questions about complying with Ohio discrimination laws, or if you have received a charge of discrimination, please contact us at info@fisheldowney.com or call 614.221.1216.