The experienced Atlanta employment lawyers at Barrett & Farahany, LLP have secured another victory for workers, this time upholding their protections under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
Details of the Case
The experienced Atlanta discrimination lawyers at Barrett & Farahany, LLP have secured another victory for workers, this time upholding their rights under GINA. Here are the details of this case.
This case involved an employer, Atlas Logistics Group Retail Services, testing the DNA of two of its workers. According to the complaint, two employees had been identified by Altas' loss prevention manager as potential culprits, and they had been asked to submit to DNA test, the results of the results of which would be compared to the DNA in the feces. Fearing for their jobs, the two workers agreed to submit to DNA testing, which end up clearing them. The defecator in this case has not been identified to date.
Under GINA, it's illegal “for an employer to request, require, or purchase genetic information with respect to an employee.” This federal law was passed in 2008 in an effort to prevent employers from using employees' genetic information to discriminate against them (by, for instance, not hiring them due to their predisposition to costly genetic diseases).
Attorneys for Atlas had argued that GINA had not been violated because the DNA test was not conducted for the purpose of screening employees for medical conditions; it was, instead, carried out to try to get to the bottom of some wrongdoing.
Judge Finds in Favor of the Plaintiffs
Countering the Atlas' defense, our Atlanta discrimination lawyers argued that the DNA samples constituted “genetic information” under GINA, despite the fact that no disease-related information was revealed.
Ultimately, Judge Totenberg ruled on May 5th that the DNA testing in this case did fall under GINA, finding in favor of the workers. A trial date has been set for June 17th to determine the damages that the plaintiffs will be awarded.
For more on this story, as well as reactions to the case, check out the full piece from the New York Times. And please share your thoughts on this with us on Facebook and Google+.
Atlanta Discrimination Lawyers at the Law Firm of Barrett & Farahany, LLP, LLP
Do you believe your employer has violated your rights? If so, you can turn to the experienced Atlanta discrimination lawyers at the Law Firm of Barrett & Farahany, LLP, LLP for aggressive legal advocacy and the highest quality legal services.
At Barret & Farahany, we believe in helping people and protecting their rights, which is why our attorneys always provide our clients with personalized, responsive legal service. We work in true partnership with our clients to fully understand their needs and provide them with the best representation. While this means that you can count on our Atlanta discrimination lawyers to keep you informed about the progress of your case, it also means that you can rely on us to successfully represent you, aggressively fight for your rights and work diligently to help you obtain compensation and justice.
