The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued automotive manufacturer Dana Sealing Manufacturing, alleging the company illegally acquired genetic information from its employees, and issued a warning to other employers as well.
Between 2022 and 2024, the Kentucky-based employer allegedly required applicants to state whether their parents, grandparents or siblings ever had certain listed medical conditions, in violation of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the complaint claimed.
“The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prevents employers from requesting family medical history information from employees and applicants, except in narrow circumstances, none of which applied here,” Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District, said in a statement Wednesday. “The EEOC will continue to enforce GINA and other federal anti-discrimination laws.”
How a health questionnaire may violate GINA
EEOC accused the employer of engaging in practices that can adversely affect status as applicants for employment, because of genetic information.
The complaint outlined how Dana Sealing’s “pre-employment health history and physical examination” may have violated GINA. Notably, Dana Sealing asked potential hires to disclose whether their family members had asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, epilepsy or mental illness, among other conditions, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit further alleged that Dana Sealing’s request for information was not related to any employer-sponsored health care or wellness benefits, and that the questionnaire was not created by a health clinic with which it worked. Dana Sealing amended the form in 2024 to say that the health clinic should not provide the employer with the genetic information.
A spokesperson for Dana Sealing told HR Dive the firm is committed to maintaining a workplace that “complies with all applicable laws” on Thursday. “As we are now engaged in the legal process, we cannot offer any comment on the specifics of this matter,” they said.
Genetic information often comes up in relation to employer wellness programs or pre-employment health screenings. Previously, Amazon settled a class action lawsuit alleging a similar violation of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act. The e-commerce company had also asked potential hires to engage in a pre-employment physical examination.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute noted that employee wellness programs can be a GINA pain point. “Since wellness programs involve the exchange of health information between employees and their employers, they are relevant to the enforcement of GINA in cases where wellness programs request genetic information from employees,” NIH researchers said. According to EEOC, there are strict limits on employer actions at the intersection of GINA and wellness programs.