In a new class action lawsuit, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has been accused of violating an Illinois genetic information privacy law by requiring workers to supply their family health care history when applying for jobs.
SIHF employs more than 1,000 people in Illinois, and operates more than 24 health care facilities in the state, according to the lawsuit. It is headquartered in downstate Sauget.
According to the complaint, one of the named plaintiffs, Bridget Patrick, applied for the job of Healthy Start Program Manager with SIHF last September.
"During the application and hiring process, Defendant directly or indirectly solicited, requested, or required Ms. Patrick to disclose her genetic information as a condition of employment," the lawsuit alleges.
During a physical, Patrick was asked to fill out a questionnaire, according to the suit.
"The questionnaire asked Ms. Patrick to disclose whether various diseases or disorders had manifested in her family members, including cardiac health, cancer, and diabetes, among other ailments," the lawsuit says.
Patrick was also asked about her family medical history, the suit said.
The complaint alleges these questions violated the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA).
The GIPA law, passed by the state legislature in 1998 purportedly "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 lawsuit says.
SIHF allegedly "chose to repeatedly disregard Illinois’ genetic privacy laws by asking its employees to provide genetic information in the form of family medical history to assist the company in making employment decisions," the suit says.
The lawsuit seeks to expand the action to include everyone who worked for or applied for a job with SIHF in the past five years.
They are seeking damages worth $15,000 for each wilful violation and $2,500 for each negligent violation, plus attorney fees and court costs.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Edward A. Wallace, Mark R. Miller and Molly C. Wells, of Wallace Miller, of Chicago.