You’ve probably seen how commonplace home DNA test kits have become if you watch television or read the news. It is simple to understand the fascination of discovering your family’s history or possibly discovering long-lost relatives. The use of your DNA by businesses is a questionable practice, therefore there is a downside to all of this genetic testing. This raises a crucial issue: Can your employer treat you unfairly based on your genetic information?
The answer is no
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) forbids different forms of discrimination in employment and health insurance, as a lawyer for employment discrimination can explain. This field of law is likely to gain more prominence as more genetic information becomes accessible since employers (and insurance providers) may try to discriminate against employees based only on their genetic information.
Employer discrimination based on genetic information is prohibited by GINA. This covers refusing to recruit or fire somebody, as well as treating an employee unfairly in any other way because of their genetic makeup.
Additionally, it forbids restricting, separating, or otherwise categorizing workers based on their genetic makeup. With a few exceptions, GINA prohibits companies from requesting, requiring, or buying genetic information from employees or their family members (such as for health and wellness programs, or after exposure to toxic substances in the workplaces).
What qualifies as genetic information?
Genetic information is described as information collected from genetic tests of a person or their family members, or from the “manifestation of a disease or problem in family members of such individual,” as an employment discrimination attorney can clarify. In order to “identify genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal alterations,” a genetic test analyzes human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites.
Many people don’t realize what can be done with their genetic information
Companies are able to utilize customers’ genetic information in ways that are not fully understood when they undertake genetic testing to provide genealogy information to customers. If you’ve used one of these services, your DNA could not be entirely protected by privacy laws and consumer contracts.
Following consumer complaints that their genetic information might have an impact on their career, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into these businesses. Even while GINA places tight restrictions on how employers can ask for and obtain genetic information about their workers, these restrictions might not apply to businesses like 23 & Me and ancestry.com.
What this means for you
What does all of this mean for employees, then? Essentially, it implies that your employer cannot request access to your genetic data and use it against you. The existence of a sickness or disorder in your family cannot be used by your employer as a basis for discrimination.
Since this field of law is still developing, it might be challenging to predict how the law will be applied. The opportunity to submit a legal action may be available to you, nevertheless, if your employer treats you unfairly due to your genetic information or national origin. PLBH can assist.
People who have been subjected to discrimination in whatever form are the focus of our firm. Call (800) 435-7542 or send an email to info@plblaw.com to set up a consultation with a skilled employment discrimination lawyer.