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. 2001 Feb 24;322(7284):449.

US employer agrees to stop genetic testing

Scott Gottlieb 1
PMCID: PMC1119680  PMID: 11222414

A US freight railway company has agreed to stop requiring the genetic testing of employees who file claims for a wrist condition called the carpal tunnel syndrome. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had filed a lawsuit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe alleging that the policy violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.

A railway worker who refused to provide a blood sample after filing an injury claim was threatened with dismissal, the commission said, in its first legal challenge against genetic testing by employers. A spokesman for Burlington Northern, Richard Russack, told the US federal court that it would stop the testing for 60 days “to evaluate the situation.”

The debate over biological screening in the workplace has intensified as scientists unravel the human genetic code, but the controversy has largely been theoretical so far. As a result of the lawsuit filed by the employment commission, Burlington Northern has become one of the first companies to acknowledge having used genetic testing on its employees, according to the commission's lawyers.

Concern that such tests could be used to weed out workers on the basis of their genetic predispositions to injury or disease has led 22 states to ban the use of genetic screening for making employment related decisions, according to a survey by the Washington Post.

The commission alleged that the blood sample that the employees were asked to submit was used to identify a genetic defect on chromosome 17, which some experts believe could predispose a person to forms of the carpal tunnel syndrome. The syndrome causes numbness and weakness in the wrist.

The commission also alleged that employees were not informed of the genetic test or asked to give their consent.

Mr Russack said that his company in some instances requested employees to undergo genetic tests “because there could be a predisposition within the body chemistry of the individual” to develop the carpal tunnel syndrome “that had nothing to do with work.” But he said that such tests were not required and there had been no disciplinary action or threat of such action against any worker who refused the tests.

Reliance on such tests is controversial, and the law governing their use is unsettled. There are worries that workers subjected to such tests will face illegal discrimination and invasions of privacy.

A year ago, president Clinton signed an executive order prohibiting federal departments and agencies from making employment decisions based on protected genetic information. Recently three Democrat members of congress introduced legislation to prohibit the use of genetic information as a basis for discrimination in employment and in health insurance.


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