A class action lawsuit accuses one of America's largest food redistributors, Dot Foods, of violating an Illinois genetic privacy law by allegedly wrongly sharing workers' health records.
" As a condition of employment, Dot Foods requires employee candidates to undergo a physical exam during which genetic information in the form of their family medical history is requested," says the lawsuit filed by named plaintiff Max Stuck in Cook County Circuit Court.
The practice violates the the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), the suit says.
"Having recognized the uniquely private and sensitive nature of genetic information – and the potential for harmful discrimination that such information may encourage among the Illinois General Assembly enacted GIPA in part to regulate employers’ use of such genetic information," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit pointed to language in the law which classifies family medical history as "uniquely private and sensitive form of personal information, which can reveal "a trove of intimate information about that person’s health, family, and innate characteristics."
According to the complaint, Stuck applied for a job at Dot Foods in January and was required to take a physical and was allegedly asked questions about his family's medical history.
"Such questions included whether the Plaintiff’s family had a history of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and other genetic information in the form of diseases that had manifested in his family members," the complaint said. "By requiring Plaintiff to answer questions about his family medical history, Defendant directly or indirectly solicited, requested, or required Plaintiff to disclose his genetic information."
The company never told Stuck "either verbally or in writing of his right to privacy under GIPA or otherwise informed he was not legally obligated to disclose genetic information," the suit says.
It seeks statutory damages of $15,000 for each "reckless or intentional violation" and $2,500 for each negligent violation, reasonable attorney fees and costs and other relief "the Court deems reasonable and just."
Stuck is represented by David L. Gerbie, William Kingston and Joseph Dunklin of the firm of McGuire Law P.C., of Chicago.