A new class action lawsuit accuses hospital and health care operator OSF of violating a state genetic privacy law by allegedly forcing job applicants to share their family medical history.
The company, headquartered in Peoria with more than 1,000 employees in Illinois, allegedly violated the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), according to the complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The complaint was filed by attorneys Edward A. Wallace, Mark R. Miller and Molly C. Wells, of the Wallace Miller firm, of Chicago, on behalf of named plaintiff Aerial Basden.
"The Illinois Legislature enacted GIPA in 1998 with the goal to protect Illinois residents from having their genetic information being used against them in employment settings," the suit says. "Consistent with this goal, GIPA 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."
According to the complaint, Basden allegedly applied to OSF for a position of Environmental Service Technician in September 2018.
At that time, the complaint asserts OSF allegedly required Basden to disclose her personal and family medical history as part of the application process.
According to the complaint, OSF allegedly required Basden to complete a written questionnaire, which would have disclosed "whether various diseases or disorders had manifested in her family members, including cardiac health, asthma, diabetes, and cancer."
According to the complaint, Basden did not provide authorization to OSF to request the information before they gave her the questionnaire.
The interview was required as a condition of employment, according to the suit, which seeks damages of $15,000 per intentional violation and $2,500 for every negligent violation of the law, plus attorney fees and court costs.
The plaintiffs seek to expand the action to include a class of potentially thousands of others who applied for jobs at OSF or who worked for the health and hospital system in the last five years..