FedEx is accused of violating an Illinois genetic information privacy law by allegedly improperly requiring workers to disclose their family medical history.
Passed in 1998, the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) claims "to protect Illinois residents from having their genetic information being used against them in employment settings," says the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The class action lawsuit was filed by named plaintiffs Erika McCaskill, of Belleville, and Shatara Brooks, of Indianapolis. Both were identified in the complaint as employees of FedEx Ground.
The lawsuit asserst the law "provides strong legal protections to ensure that Illinois residents can take advantage of the knowledge that can be gained from obtaining personal genetic information, without fear that this same information could be used by employers to discriminate against them," the suit states.
The lawsuit asserts the GIPA law bars employers from asking about employees' or potential employees’ genetic information and from using that information to "affect the terms and conditions of employment."
Information about an employee's family medical history is protected under the law, acccording to the suit.
FedEx "chose to repeatedly disregard Illinois’ genetic privacy laws by asking their employees to provide genetic information in the form of family medical history to assist the companies in making employment decisions," the suit states.
The suit alleges FedEx directly asked McCaskill, Brooks and other employees and job applicants to disclose their family medical histories.
For instance, the suit alleges, "as part of the hiring process, Ms. McCaskill was required to meet with the FedEx Ground employee at the Sauget Center for an interview after receiving a conditional offer for employment," the lawsuit states. "During the interview, the FedEx Ground employee verbally asked questions about her family medical history. When asking these questions, the FedEx Ground employee had a file in front of them on their desk and
made handwritten notes on the papers in the file as they asked these questions."
The suit seeks a court order declaring that the company's actions violated state law, damages of $15,000 per violation, attorney fees and court costs.
The plaintiffs seek to expand the action to include potentially everyone who applied for a job or was employed by FedEx in Illinois, who was asked for their personal or family medical histories, in the past five years.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Edward A. Wallace, Mark R. Miller and Molly C. Wells, of the firm of Wallace Miller, of Chicago, and Elizabeth A. Brehm and Kyle McLean, of Siri & Glimstad, of New York.