Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Co. allegedly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it required an employee with multiple sclerosis to submit to a medical exam and fired her after receiving the results, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed in a Sept. 8 lawsuit.
Per the complaint in EEOC v. Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Co., the employee was a store merchandiser at Cheerwine’s soft drink manufacturing and distribution facility in Colfax, North Carolina. She walked with a limp due to MS medication that had caused deterioration in her hip cartilage, the complaint said.
Six weeks into the job, she was required to take a physical agility test, making her the only new hire to undergo the test before the end of a 90-day probationary period, EEOC alleged. Test results indicated she met all four job-specific requirements, but noted she had decreased strength in her hip, gait abnormalities and difficulty squatting.
Following the test, Cheerwine placed the employee on unpaid leave and fired her the same day, according to the complaint. The next day, she provided a doctor’s note clearing her for work, but Cheerwine allegedly rejected the note and told her she’d been terminated.
EEOC sued Cheerwine, alleging it fired her because of her disability or because it regarded her as disabled, in violation of the ADA. EEOC also alleged the physical agility test amounted to an impermissible medical exam under the ADA. Cheerwine did not respond to a request for comment.
Under the ADA, an employer can require a current employee to submit to a medical exam only if the exam is job-related and consistent with business necessity, an EEOC guidance states.
Physical agility tests, which measure an employee’s ability to perform actual or simulated job tasks, are generally not considered medical exams, according to the guidance. But they can exceed their scope if they include medical tests, such as measuring blood pressure or testing an employee’s range of motion to determine muscle strength and motor function, the guidance explains.
In the Cheerwine lawsuit, EEOC pointed to several factors indicating the physical agility test was a guise for requiring the employee to undergo an impermissible medical exam: The test was allegedly designed to reveal physical impairments, it took place in a medical setting and it included measuring the employee’s blood pressure and range of motion.
The employee was also unlawfully asked about her hip, causing her to reveal disability-related information about her MS medication and resulting limp, EEOC alleged.
Employers can show a medical exam was job-related and consistent with business necessity — and therefore justified — by providing reasonable, objective evidence that a medical condition prevented the employee from performing essential functions, according to the guidance.
Here, however, the employee successfully performed her job in a way that met Cheerwine’s expectations and was never counseled, reprimanded or disciplined for not meeting these expectations, EEOC alleged.